Let’s face it, when it comes to cocaine, us Brits seem to be experts. Shockingly, the UK now has the second highest rate of cocaine use globally, beaten only by Australia. This is not a guess. The figures come from a recent report from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). Wowser!
We may not have won the Euros under Gareth Southgate, but the UK has become Europe’s cocaine capital, with over 2% of British adults using cocaine each year. It’s a worrying trend, and at Zoom Testing, we’ve seen deaths linked to cocaine skyrocket – increasing more than sevenfold in just a decade.
So, what’s behind this spike? Experts reckon it’s a perfect storm: cheap, potent cocaine mixed with a drinking culture that shrugs off its use as normal. You can now buy cocaine for as little as a tenner a gram, and it’s purer than ever. Why? Because it’s getting harder to smuggle in cutting agents. This means overdoses are more likely, especially for first-timers or casual users.
Young blokes are particularly at risk. Government figures show men are twice as likely as women to use cocaine. It peaks between 16 and 24, with a whopping 5% of young adults admitting to using cocaine in the past year. But it’s not just a young person’s problem – we’re seeing more and more older folks turning to cocaine too.
Now, you might think cocaine’s no big deal if you’re just a casual user, but the health risks are serious. It sends your heart rate and blood pressure through the roof, which can lead to heart attacks and other heart problems. Heavy use? That’s a one-way ticket to anxiety, paranoia, and even full-blown psychosis that lands you in hospital. In 2022 alone, cocaine played a part in over 850 deaths in England and Wales. It’s not just a statistic – that’s 850 families torn apart.
So, what’s being done? Some experts are calling for the government to step up with prevention efforts. Think posters in pub loos and ads in football stadiums showing the real risks of cocaine. Others want tougher action on smuggling to make cocaine less potent and more expensive. But with use so widespread, we at Zoom Testing believe drug checking services could be crucial in saving lives.
The UK’s cocaine problem has been brewing for years, but we’re at boiling point now. We need everyone – government, health services, communities – to work together. It’s the only way we’ll prevent more needless deaths and change how people think about this dangerous drug that’s become far too common.
Photo by Colin Davis on Unsplash
Zoom Testing is a leading UK drug testing company and a supplier of Drug Test Kits.
This post was originally published in January 2024 and last updated in October 2024.
