I don't think it is cocaine fueling the loudmouthed, super-opinionated ass hats who are becoming more and more common the last dozen or so years. I think it is the intentional polarization of politics. They want the population bitterly divided. We are so much easier to control when we are blaming political parties, race, gender, sex, or anything else for the problems that the power elite have engineered for their own personal enrichment and benefit.

Q.1; Are we living in a cocaine era?

A. According to WHO...cocaine use peaked in '04 (data stopped for this chart at 2013). Many other drugs (including Opioids) are declining in use. Cannabis use/abuse (as reported in emergency room visit data) is still climbing...

I'm not clear about your argument or point.

I fail to see how this particular era is any different from any other.
Every era, in every region around the world, has had it's drugs of choice, it's politics,
it's violence, and it's various points of polarization.

The ONLY difference now is the level of technology which allows for nearly EVERYONE to know what nearly everyone else is doing. All. The. Time.
There's no break. There's no breathing room.
Nearly everyone is exhausted and overwhelmed.
There are over 7.5 BILLION people on this rock.
What did we think was going to happen?

Believe it or not, seventeenth-century Spain (and Potugal), had a major drug problem, with soldiers and sailors coming back from the New World, addicted to chewing coca leaves, or wanting to laze about in alley-ways, smoking marijuana.

I think the division and violence is more about leaders control with an agenda to create groups for people to be against, which fires them up more than idealistic ventures.
The musical "Wicked" has
the Wizar described as a conman selling snake oil.

H feigned a food shortage. so made a faction of ther society who were considered wise and the teachers, the enemy, to make enough food for those on te "right side." that was from McGuire's book, Wicked the Musical.

Th Wizard stated. "Where I'm from the best way to bring people together..is to give them a really good enemy."

Another quotes of his:
"The truth isn't a thing of fact, or reason, it's simply what everyone agrees on.

"Where I come from, we believe all sorts of things that arent true. We call it history."

Ironically, commentaries when I saw Wicked compared the Wizard to Dick Cheney.

I don't think the discourse has to do with video games, or drugs at all. It seems to me to be the climate of the majority of leaders and how corrupt and inept they are to inspire people which unites them, to make a faction dangerous and taking away from the others.

Nostalgia is a drug of it’s own!

There have always been cycles of drug us and OD’s!

The West Coast just had more access to far cheaper drugs!

Does one remember what a New York J is?

Kelvin my answer is no more. Having a heart issue cocaine would kill me. And I loved it. Never bought it. Always had friends who had it or knew a dealer. One of my best friends was a pharmacist who left it in his bathroom cabinet. Very addictive! Jeff got busted, lost his license, went to jail for a year in VT, and became a drug counselor afterwards. My girlfriend's boyfriend who was dealing was shot at. It's been over 10 years now since I've done it. Beware! Easy to get hooked everyone!

It is self evident that people are all screaming at each other trying to be heard. However, I don't think drug use has nearly as much to do with it as other factors, such as wide spread use of the Internet. In the days when you had to physically leave your home in order to talk to people, people tended to stay in one area so most people had similar experiences, values, and ideas to the people around them. The Internet exposes everyone to everyone else, so it inevitably becomes a battleground of conflicting interests.

The deaths from overdoses on hard drugs has significantly increased.
[ourworldindata.org]
Finding a reliable statistic on cocaine use is difficult, but the cultivation in Columbia says a lot.

Correlation does not necessarily mean causation. For example, use of recreational drugs such as cannabis is way up, higher than in the 60's, which seems to undermine your theory.

I think I missed those sixties experiences that people talk about. I was either attending a largely segregated college, fighting in Vietnam, or working on construction projects. But I think you are looking back with rose-colored glasses—society was even more polarized then. Remember all the race riots, the anti-war demonstrations and rioting, the political assassinations? Remember the George Wallace campaign for president?

That’s not to say we aren’t polarized today. The quality of political discourse in this country is appalling. We need some better leaders, people who will unify us rather than cause division. We need real leaders who work for the well-being of the country rather than politicians who fight for personal power and glory. And we need to rally behind those leaders.

I have hope that things will improve. For now we have to take events day by day.

I am so sorry you have this experience. In S. Florida, the cocaine era ended in the 80's. That's not to say people in general no longer use. I am 74 years old and still enjoy dancing at bars where I am probably the oldest woman there. Often I go with friends. Maybe this is fun because of where I live and travel. I find people welcoming and willing to have difficult conversations without resorting to personal attacks. The bars, at which I dance, are not aggressive, though the music is often a bit too loud for me. That's what ear plugs are for. I love the face to face encounters that give me a broader view of other's beliefs and experiences. Some leftists do view some people as fascists, because, maybe the shoe fits. I have had the unfortunate personal experience of fascism in a place that I lived for a year and do find similar ideology in some people. I love young people. They study and work so very hard and like to get out to party, to ease their pressure. Rowdy people get tossed out of those establishments, as they should be. Maybe, you might consider changing your geography.

I think you are on to something. People's choices of mood-altering chemicals, whether in drinks or in drugs makes a big difference in their behavior, whether these chemicals are legal or not. Social media, the internet, and smartphones are all part of that as well as they affect behavior, personality, and perception of the world as well at the individual, group, and societal levels.

More like meth and pills. Similar, just fake and more dangerous.

Also energy drinks for even the non drug users, similar to coffee but fake and more dangerous.

This is a very interesting question, and it goes without saying that if you notice just how many times you hear of a cocaine bust happening with absolutely massive amounts of cocaine that was destined for this country, you have just got to realize that there must also be a very huge amount of users who are feeding that market. So we know that. But the more revealing question might be, who, demographically speaking are the users? Are they in government? Are they on the police force? Are they politicians, lawyers, lobbyists, priests, televangelists, military?

I have a very strong suspicion that this is the case.

You can take a look at society today, and you see complete indifference to the plight of the poor, fucking child molesters all over hell's half acre, and generally, no socially cohesive glue holding society together, and both business and government practices that are counter to not only social welfare but even common sense, complete disregard for science, education, logic . . . . and also a lack of both mental and physical self-discipline.

Were is it heading?
I think that unless something drastic happens to change to course of things, humanity is going to come to an abrupt end, I mean, extinct, either the environment will become so completely fucked that it will no longer support us, or by nuclear weapons, and my bet is on the latter. I don't think it is a question of "if", it is more a question of "when".

Even when I was growing up, as a child, I remember people talking about how things had changed for the worst, as far as society goes, social things, and if they could see it today, they would be truly bewildered, and likely just as convinced as I am that things are going to go to hell in a handbasket.

That writing has been on the wall for a long time.

In the nostalgic days of love and herbs, there was no social media to polarise society.
I feel that media sites like FB, Instagram and Twitter are the true drugs; creating addiction to memes, inane social postings, and a celebrity culture, where everyone seeks their moment of fame.
I fear that parts of this site are also vulnerable to this phenomenon, instead of being a place for intellectual, free thinking, intercourse.

I'll pass on the coke but don't Bogart that joint

No. The cocaine era starts tonight around 10:30 and go on till question mark.