Raphael - Interview 30

Age at interview: 24

Brief Outline:

When Raphael was younger he and his friends would go out to get drunk three or four times a week. Now he spends more time with his fiancée than in the pub. Raphael smokes cannabis but says that he will stop using it when he and his fiancée decide to start a family.

Background:

Raphael is a full-time public sector worker, and is getting married soon. Ethnic background: White.

More about me...

Raphael started drinking beer when he was fifteen, taking his dad’s strong beer from the fridge and drinking in the park with his friends. As a teenager, he didn’t know his limits, and would often mix his drinks, getting him lot more drunk. He still mixes his drinks, but says that he can handle it now. He drinks on weekends, and occasionally a couple of beers during the week watching a football match with friends. Sometimes he gets drunk on spirits at parties, and describes himself as “a happy drunk”. He thinks that it is easier to socialise when drinking alcohol, though one might say something when drunk that offends someone.

 

Raphael says that he has never really put himself at risk while being drunk, though he says that when he was younger, he fell over on a bicycle. He says that he would never drive after drinking alcohol.

 

When he was younger he drank a lot, three or four nights during the week getting totally drunk. Now he has a lot more responsibility and has matured, with a fiancée and a mortgage. He spends more of his free time with his fiancée than with the friends he drank a lot with. When he was younger, he would sometimes phone in sick for work, and sleep in after late night drinking. Now he realises that he needs to go into work and keep a steady job, and that it is more important than having a drink. He finds drinking relaxing and has a glass of wine with a meal, and drinks while watching the football.

 

Raphael smokes cannabis three or four times a week. He says that he would give up alcohol, or cigarettes, before he would give up cannabis. His fiancée smokes cigarettes, but not cannabis, though she doesn’t mind him doing it. He says that he will stop smoking cannabis when he and his fiancée decide to start a family.

 

He thinks that cannabis should be legalised, and that alcohol is a lot worse for people's health. When he was younger, he was offered other drugs in clubs – acid, ketamine and ecstasy. He tried ecstasy, but didn’t really enjoy it.

  

Raphael thinks that health campaigns need to target young people but that they may not pay much attention.

What about school?

 

Again I think when you’re younger you’re a bit more naïve, you don’t really, I mean they had, they had like loads of posters and so it was always there like to make sure like you don’t do it too sort of thing, there’s all these signs and teachers would talk about it as well, but I think the, and I think when you’re younger you’re a lot more naïve, you don’t really take into account what they’re actually saying, and I think in a way it will become a bit more intriguing and a bit more, curious, become a lot more curious I think.

 

Okay. At what age do you think it would be a good idea to start giving young people more information and advice about drugs and alcohol?

 

I know you need to start when you’re younger because of, that’s quite a lot of the times where the peer pressure comes in and stuff but, I don’t think people notice it until maybe nineteen, eighteen, nineteen and then they might become a bit, a bit more mature and take into account what you’re saying but I think when you’re talking like fourteen, fifteen, you’re too busy talking to your mate in the back of the class to, to realise what, what they’re actually talking about.

Raphael says his fiancée doesn't mind that he uses cannabis, but he would stop if they had children.

Have you ever thought about stopping using it (cannabis) or, or not really?

 

No, not really crossed my mind, I think whenever I, just like everything else whenever I get bored of it, or whenever I don’t want to do it I’ll stop it, but other than that I don’t see the reason. I mean if you were to have children and stuff like that obviously I would, we could stopping it then, definitely stop it. Yeah definitely but, not just now I don’t.

 

Does your fiancée smoke cannabis?

 

She smokes cigarettes, she doesn’t smoke Cannabis.

 

Oh she doesn’t smoke, what are her views on Cannabis?

I think she’s got the same as me I don’t think she, I don’t think she’s overly bothered about it really, I don’t think she, she’s not worried about it or anything like that she’s not worried about me smoking it or anything like that. 

Raphael says that he is a ‘happy drunk' who likes to get along with people; he thinks alcohol can...

Yeah very happy drunk,I can always seem to remember as well which is quite good.

 

You seem to remember?

 

Yeah I always like and it, but then I always find when you’re drunk you never feel like you’re embarrassing yourself by like, talking funny or saying stupid things but you always wake up in the morning and then you remember what you were saying and then you’re like, ‘oh yeah maybe I was a bit embarrassing’. But I find that I’m quite a happy drunk, quite like to get along with people and smile, so it doesn’t really matter.

 

What do you see are the positive sides of drinking alcohol?

 

It’s easier to socialise I think, I think if you were to put two people in a room without alcohol and two people in a room with alcohol I find it would be a lot quicker at getting to know each other if they had alcohol than if they didn’t have alcohol they kind of open up, people open up a bit more. 

Raphael found smoking weed sociable and relaxing. He also liked the idea that it was illegal.

And what were your reasons for, for starting smoking Cannabis were you curious...?

 

Yeah just, yeah I just, I don’t know why I just, don’t know, when I was younger I liked to take a, not take a risk I just liked to try something different and I knew it was illegal and I quite like that, that was quite like, quite liked the idea of that, but and I smoked cigarettes so I didn’t think it was going to be much different to be honest.

 

I don’t, don’t know never really thought about it like that, I’ve just more just thought of it being like a, and again like the same maybe relaxing sort of enjoy, I enjoy it, and I don’t know, I don’t really know, different feeling.