While the rest of us may turn to drugs to combat the recession blues, the global meltdown has forced bankers shorn of their bonuses in London's cocaine-laden financial district to cut down on their snorting. See Bloomberg's "Cocaine Survivors Losing London Bonus See End to Bubble's Binge."

If you're not too fucked up on drugs, follow this reasoning: So if the meltdown has actually contributed to a victory in the "drug war," that's all the more reason to not continue bailing out Wall Street or allow the banks either here or in London to resume paying big bonuses.

The latest line from Bloomberg's account this morning includes this memorable quote from a "cocaine survivor" in the City:

"It's the same rush from doing a deal and doing cocaine," [former equities analyst Neill] Junor, 45, says. "The adulation from doing a deal spills into going for a beer and then a party -- it's an amorphous blob of energy."

The story points out that bankers have "swamped" detox clinics and doctors "since the financial crisis widened a year ago. ... When the bonuses are cut and many of your friends lose their livelihoods, things no longer look so good."

Bloomberg's crackling yarn focuses solely on London. It can't possibly be true that Wall Street's bankers are also cocaine abusers. But if any of them still are, they can bid on a terrific glass-topped cocaine table, listed now for only $250.