Something truly horrible happens in your 40s… partying becomes a punish.

The Tuesday blues can't be banished with a bottle of Gatorade and a 'can do' attitude anymore. The hangovers last longer, the 'hangxiety' lingers for days, and the sin of Saturday night settles straight on your stomach.

And that's before we get to the brutally ageing effects of drugs like cocaine, which I've seen first-hand undo the miracles of friends' Botox (shock horror!)

And putting health and physical appearance to one side, the fact is many party animals simply can't afford to hit the 'wines and lines' like they used to - what with the street value of coke ballooning to a $300 for a gram here in Sydney (or so I'm told).

I know, I know - I'm sending my thoughts and prayers.

So with all that said, I've been noticing my posh 40-something friends have been chasing a different kind of buzz lately.

No more champagne and bumps for these business types and their Hermès bag-toting wives. Instead they're raving about a cheaper, slimmer, hangover-free 'high'.

Enter, stage right: Magic mushrooms. Gummies. Dexies. 

Walk into any posh dinner party, wine bar, wedding, girls' night, or even casual after-work drinks and you'll likely encounter one - or all three - of these new vices.

I first came across 'gummies' - as most mums call them - at a casual girls' dinner on a Tuesday night. We were all sitting on the lounges of a friend's house, eating sushi and chatting about life, when the host went to her kitchen cabinet and pulled out a tin.

She opened it to reveal cute, sugar-coated gummy hearts - the kind you'd find at the supermarket. Except these ones had a distinct whiff of marijuana and had been prescribed by her therapist.

She cut them into halves and offered us each one as we left, promising we'd be anxiety-free and sleep like babies.

Reader, I got dropped off out the front of my house in an Uber and couldn't find my front door. Yes, I was that stoned.

The next morning, our group chat was going bananas with everyone sharing their own experiences with what happened after we all left. One friend said she sat in front of her mirror for 20 minutes because she could 'see twins'. 

Another said her husband called to say goodnight (he was interstate for work) and she'd greened out so hard she didn't respond to anything he said, then hung up. He was so worried he nearly called an ambulance.

And we'd all only had half! The friend who gave them to us laughed and said she was prescribed two a day.

Soon enough, most of the women had their own prescriptions, courtesy of a famously laid-back therapist in Bondi whose relaxed diagnoses were making her the talk of the neighbourhood.

I only indulge when I'm in New York - where it's legal - for my occasional 'trip back to the 70s'. Another friend binned hers after her dog found one on the floor and spent eight hours staring into space. I shouldn't laugh, but once we knew he was fine, the videos she filmed would have mesmerised David Attenborough.

Another friend - a fabulous boss-lady type - now looks forward to nothing more than going home on a Friday night, climbing into bed with a movie and a gummy. Prescribed, of course.

I was introduced to chocolate magic mushrooms a little while later at a friend's 50th.

The birthday was hosted by a reformed party girl who's since embraced a healthier lifestyle. Whereas her weekends were once spent on marathon benders, she now channels that energy into gym sessions, hikes and cold-pressed juices.

So I wasn't sure what to expect from her milestone bash with all her new fit-and-fab friends - but it turns out even the healthiest among us still enjoy a buzz.

A large block of homemade chocolate wrapped in foil was being passed around all night, with everyone encouraged to take a little bite.

At first, I thought it was odd, until someone whispered that it had been made with psilocybin - otherwise known as magic mushrooms. Oh, the whole party was tripping!

Now, this wasn't a full-blown mushroom session. The chocolate had been made with only a small amount, known as a 'microdose'. Rather than feeling like you were on another planet, it seemed to offer a Zen-like calm that just... put a smile on your face.

And here's a surprising side-effect: the party guests lost all interest in drinking.

Since that night, I've noticed mushroom chocolate has become a fairly common staple around Sydney's trendy east. At a local wine bar recently, I watched people openly passing it around the table. No more sneaking off to the toilets for a cheeky line - just have a nibble of chocolate and those who 'don't know' are none the wiser.

Now, I steer clear of it personally because - aside from it being illegal in Australia - I still can't forget what happened to our neighbour growing up. 

Like most people from the country, we grew and ate a lot from the land. But one day my neighbour accidentally ate the wrong kind of mushroom from his property and got stuck in a trip for a month. Yes, a month. They had to put him in a mental hospital until it wore off. So no, I'm not rushing to start chomping on them at parties.

And lastly, Sydney's flavour of the month when it comes to drugs: dexies.

Dexies is short for dexamphetamine, a prescription stimulant mostly used for ADHD.

I first came across them at a destination wedding. This crowd was no stranger to 'white' weddings - the kind where cocaine is as standard as champagne - but in this country, drug possession could land you in jail for decades.

So instead, two guests raided their children's ADHD meds and passed them around. It turns out that if you have ADHD, dexies have a calming effect that helps you focus - but if you don't have ADHD, it delivers the opposite: heightened energy.

Safe to say there was plenty of dancing on tables at that wedding.

And unlike exorbitantly expensive cocaine, ADHD medication costs $31.60 a script.

So where does that leave us? Has the posh in-crowd traded the glamorous French champagne and nose candy for gummy bears, chocolate and pilfered prescriptions?

Maybe - but let's not pretend their new vices are harmless. Yes, it's funny and a little thrilling to gossip about posh mums passing around mushroom chocolate at a wine bar, but these are still illegal substances in Australia and carry real risks.

To be clear: psilocybin edibles can trigger severe anxiety, panic attacks and, in rare cases, prolonged psychosis in people who are vulnerable.

Recreational cannabis gummies can also cause paranoia, nausea, loss of coordination and dangerously delayed reactions.

And stimulants like dexamphetamine may feel fun on the dance floor, but they bring the risk of heart palpitations, high blood pressure, insomnia, dependency and, yes, emergency hospital trips if mixed with booze or other meds.

It should also go without saying: you should never take someone else's prescription medication, or lie to a doctor in order to obtain a restricted drug.

Here's the bottom line: this trendy new triumvirate of vices might not wreak the same havoc on your body as cocaine, but getting caught with them could still see you turfed from polite society faster than you can say 'Maserati school run'.

So on that note... pass the pinot!