AS fun-loving Jackie drops her granddaughter off at the school gates none of the mums have a clue about the wild weekend she has in store.
After all, how could they possibly guess that this mild-mannered 55-year-old, who walks with a crutch due to joint problems, will be hitting the rave scene before dropping a few pills and some acid if she’s “lucky” enough to get her hands on some.
Grandmother of four Coral says a ‘day rave’ is perfect for her caring responsibilitiesCredit: John-Paul Japes
In the club: inside a popular day raveCredit: Supplied
Jackie says taking drugs at raves like this help with her pain levelsCredit: Supplied
“I’m in a lot of pain most of the time but once I take a few pills it’s gone so I leave my crutch in the cloakroom,” Jackie tells The Sun
“Mind you, I’m hobbling about the next day.”
Welcome to the rave scene, where any drug goes from coke to ketamine and ecstasy – despite figures which reveal
Latest statistics from 2024 show that in England and Wales 1,129 people aged 40 to 49 died of drug misuse and 1,258 people aged 50 to 69 also lost their lives.
It compares to 814 deaths in the 30 to 39 age bracket and 323 in the 20 to 29 age group.
Yet Gen X ravers trying to recapture the nostalgia of their youth are willing to take the risk.
Google searches for ‘day raves’ shot up in 2025 peaking at a record high in the days before Christmas.
Jackie, of Basingstoke, Hampshire, said: “We’re all having the best time.
“In the past people in their 50s have been considered old but now we have a new lease of life.
“It’s worth the risk of taking drugs. Every month somebody we know dies of something or another, a heart attack or stroke.
“At this age we want to squeeze the pips out of life.
“It’s like turning back time. The music is evolving and it takes us back to a carefree time before adulting hit us in the face. And because we did all those drugs back in the day, we’re not scared to do it all again.”
Day clubbers we spoke to told The Sun how the hallucinogenic drug acid – which kicked off the warehouse dance scene in the late 80s – is making a comeback.
Jackie said: “It lasts longer than pills and you know it’s going to work. It’s cheaper too – a fiver for a tab.
Coral with daughter JacquiCredit: Not known, clear with picture desk
Acid tabs are making a comeback at day ravesCredit: Getty
“It’s had a real resurgence and the more people take it and have a good time the more others are taking it.”
Jackie says her three grown-up kids totally support her weekend shenanigans.
“My daughter said if I died at a rave she would know I’d died doing something I love because it’s given me a second life.”
Jackie, who helps look after her primary school granddaughter, was one of the back in the day.
“I started going to acid house parties when I was 17 and then pills started coming over from America. They gave such a euphoric feeling we couldn’t believe it.
“Life got on top of me through my 30s and I have diabetes type 1, facet joint pain and bulging discs in my back, but the drugs help with the pain and allow me to get back on the dance floor.”
Jackie, who attends raves with her IT technician partner, says she has also dabbled with, a horse tranquiliser drug popular with the current generation.
She said: “My sons knew people who did ket and ended up in a so-called K-hole with no idea what they were doing. I’m always careful.
“I just take a tiny fingernail dose and I love the floaty feeling you get from it. I also like Mandy (MDNA)
“I know all the dangers surrounding drugs. Everyone on the scene knows. We’re not daft, we’re grown-ups.”
Euphoric daze
Grandmother-of-four Coral Taylor, 60, sees her weekly Saturday raves as a way of escaping stress.
In the week she helps look after her mum, 84, and 40-year-old daughter Jacqui, who has cerebral palsy and is confined to a wheelchair
At the weekend, she heads from her home in Essex to London in search of a rave but doesn’t take drugs.
Coral said: “I’ve got a lot of responsibility Monday to Friday but, come Saturday, I know I can get on that dance floor and release the pressure.
“I love the feeling of euphoria you get from dancing away and my daughter sometimes comes with me.
“Day raves start at 2pm and end at 10pm usually so I’m in bed by midnight. I went out on New Year’s Eve and got back home at 11pm with time to watch the fireworks and have a drink before going to bed.”
Clubber Coral Taylor says day raves drive down her stress levelsCredit: Supplied
The silver ravers are getting back their glory days on the dance floorCredit: John-Paul Japes
Coral says she has witnessed more people use acid and says the older generation needs to be aware of warnings that drugs taken in the 80s and 90s are now much stronger.
She said: “I lost a friend last October who took a pill and we think it had fentanyl in it.
“Drugs are much stronger now than they were in the 80s and 90s. I’ve read a pill used to have 150mg of MDNA in it but now it’s 300mg.
“More and more people are taking acid which can lead to 12-hour trips and if they end up with the wrong crowd they could put themselves at massive risk.
“However day raves seem relatively safe because everyone knows everyone on the scene and seem to look after each other.
“I feel sorry for kids now. I don’t think they have as much fun as we had when we were younger because they’re all too busy saving for university or house deposits.
“We’ve done all that and now we’re ready to live again.”
There are all sorts of reasons why Gen X, born in the 70s and mid 80s, are more likely to take drugs than their younger counterparts.
Ian Hamilton, professor in addiction at the University of York, explained: “They grew up in a time when drug use was at its peak in the UK.
“While we are seeing some variations, like a spike in numbers of cocaine users, in general drug use has declined.
“Raving and other cultural aspects meant taking drugs was more socially acceptable in the 70s and 80s. It wasn’t something that was stigmatised and the dance scene made hallucinogens popular.
“This was also a generation who followed what their parents were doing in the 60s when there was a more liberal attitude to drugs.
“While substances like ketamine are currently being used for people to socialise and go out, it doesn’t have quite the same strong links to music that the likes of Ecstasy and MDNA have.
“The problem is that these drugs are far more potent now so if you took an E say 20 years ago it’s now much more powerful.”
While today’s ageing ravers are more educated on the dangers, it’s unlikely to put them off their weekend drug binges.
Silver snorters
WHILE Generation X love party drugs baby boomers are more likely to become dangerously addicted to cocaine.
The Sun last October revealed that the number of OAPs admitted to hospital for snorting coke has soared by a third in two years.
Figures show that 723 pensioners had to get medical help in the 12 months to March last year.
The stats included 70 people aged between 75 and 79, 28 in their 80s and eight who were in their 90s.
Around one in five were treated for long-term addictions while others wanted treatment for withdrawal, depression or psychosis.
Pensioners make up three per cent of the people treated for cocaine use but over-65 admissions are still a third more than in 2022-23, and four and a half times higher than 2014-15, when 164 of them were seen by medics.
One DJ producer, a 57-year-old from London, told us: “Drugs and rave music go hand-in-hand.
“Day events are where the majority of people go now because they mainly start at 2pm. I can do a gig then be in bed by 2am which suits me fine.
“I think older people are more responsible about drug use. Kids are experimenting with stuff we’ve never heard of before, all walking around like zombies on ketamine.”
He too said acid was having a resurgence as a go-to dance drug again.
“It’s my drug of choice at festivals and events when I’m not driving. When I take it I really go for it and drop four to five tabs easily.
“It’s also gaining popularity among the young too, alongside mushrooms. They want to experience the hippy vibe – it’s something they feel they’ve missed out on.”
Eze Chidiebere Paul
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