It's a bit of a running joke among those of us hailing from outside the confines of London that life in the capital seems to run ten times faster than anywhere else in the country.
As any bewildered traveller who's ever been lambasted by an angry man in a suit for standing on the wrong side of an escalator, or dawdling in the street will surely testify, it's a stereotype that is pretty firmly based in truth.
Now it turns out this inner-city culture of rushing and racing extends to the Smoke's drug dealers, too. So much so, in fact, that they're on target to win a title.
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London is now expected to be named among the top global cities for the speed of its cocaine delivery. In fact, researchers say that powder in the city is often delivered faster than pizzas, thanks to smartphones revolutionising the way narcotics are bought and sold.
The Global Drug Survey is currently investigating the impact of encrypted messaging services and other high-tech tools that are facilitating faster drug delivery around the world than ever before.
As technology continues to evolve, policing methods grow with it - something which is making traditional drug dealing methods all the more risky.
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Professor Adam R Winstock, a consultant psychiatrist and founder of the Global Drug Survey, told the Independent the widespread implementation of CCTV cameras has made traditional street dealing riskier for those at both ends of the bargain.
"With the darknet facilitating the delivery of drugs direct to people's letter boxes and encrypted social media platforms allowing people to order in secret, it's not surprising that there'd be an impact on the speed of delivery," he added.
"Despite additional charges for swift drug delivery, the attraction of convenience and discretion means it makes sense for dealers to invest in premium delivery services.
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"With all this in mind, we decided to look at efficiency and speed of drug delivery across the world. And to make a symbolic comparison, we're using pizzas as a benchmark and cocaine as the test."
Now London is projected by experts to be one of the cities in which cocaine is delivered the fastest, alongside New York and Berlin.
The issue of speedy drug delivery is one of a whole host of topics being looked into by the survey for 2018.
The Global Drug Survey is the largest research operation of its kind and receives hundreds of thousands of responses from all over the world.
For the new year, the study's researchers are asking people to anonymously detail how they lost their 'drug virginity'. They are also aiming to find out how drinkers are affected by alcohol labels, to look at how cannabis smokers can quit and to examine the issue of drug testing at festivals.
Featured Image Credit: PATopics: UK News, Cocaine, Drugs