Alcohol is a gateway drug for cocaine addicts

OUR ambivalent attitude towards alcohol and our apparent personal reluctance to challenge other people’s problem drinking are being dangerously overlooked in the current furore concerning cocaine.

Cocaine usually goes hand-in-hand with alcohol. We need to face the fact that, in the vast majority of cases, alcohol is the gateway drug.

Frequently people who wouldn’t normally be disposed towards taking illegal drugs end up doing so as their defences are dramatically lowered due to alcohol consumption.

There are very few drug users who don’t also have an issue with alcohol. Many cocaine abusers, when asked about alcohol, will say they drink but are only “binge drinkers”. In fact, the term binge drinker may not be helpful as it seems to delude us that this type of drinker doesn’t have a serious problem with alcohol in its own right.

The committed, proactove help of the 75% or so who are low-volume, non-problem drinkers is imperative in tackling this issue.

While acknowledging the serious cocaine problem, it would be absolutely counter-productive to lose sight of the fact that alcohol is the most abused drug in the country.

Gerry Hickey MBACP

Counsellor/Psychotherapist

44 Adelaide Road

Dublin 2