Vice in T2K

[Raellus]

I've often wondered about the availability of certain soldiers' vices (for lack of a more precise term) late on in the Twilight War, especially in the ETO. Specifically, caffeine, nicotine, alcohol, illicit drugs, and sex. I am not an expert on any of these topics [insert snickering here], and my knoweldge about most of them is either general or second-hand, so I am soliciting your expertise. Please, correct me if I am wrong about any of the following.

As to the first item, caffeine, although I drink it daily, I really don't know a whole lot about it. I assume that most, if not all, coffee in Europe is imported from elsewhere (Latin America, Africa). Same goes for tea (Asia, Africa). I therefore assume that both would be extremely rare in Europe c. 2000. Is this accurate?

As for nicotine, I've never really used it myself, but it seems that an awful lot of soldiers take up smoking during wartime. My sense is that tobacco would be more common and available in Europe than would coffee or tea. I've been told that tobacco can be grown in some parts of Europe, Poland especially, and the Soviet Union of WWII apparently was able to keep its troops well supplied with tobacco. I'm not sure that the former is accurate, and I am making assumptions that the latter indicates that tobacco was domestically produced somewhere in the vast U.S.S.R. How common and available would tobacco be in Europe c.2000?

Alcohol would, I believe, be plentiful. With the proliferation of stills in military units (and presumably, concentrations of civilians as well), grain and potato-based liquor would be very common. Although the quality might be quite variable, I can't imagine that one would need to look very hard or very far to find some hooch.

I have the least personal experience of all with illicit drugs. I would assume that narcotic pharmaceuticals (pain killers, tranquilizers, downers, stimulants, etc.) would be very rare c. 2000. Drugs like cocaine and herroine, based on plants not grown in Europe, would also be very rare. Marijuana, on the other hand, could be grown in many parts of Europe (in greenhouses if the local climate was not generally suitable to cultivation) and would therefore, I think, be somewhat common. I wonder if it might be more common, even, than tobacco.

As to sex, I think that would be the second most available (next to alcohol) vice in Europe c. 2000. Unfortunately, many widowed women, especially young mothers with small children to care fore, resort to prostitution during wartime. Many refugee women, desperate for food, shelter, or protection, have likewise. And then there are the seedier, more nefarious sources of sex to consider. Rape, often seen as a spoil of war (or a form of punishment for the women of the enemy), is unfortunately fairly common in war zones. Sex trafficking might also pick up in more chaotic regions.

I assume that all of these vices would become part of the local economy, either openly or, in the case of illicit drugs and sex, as part of a black market.

These are just preliminary thoughts. The Twilight War would be a very different war, in terms of the global economy, than any other recent conflict. If you have expertise or thoughts about any of these vices, I'd like to read your comments.