Cocaine deaths - Issues to confront

JUST before Christmas cocaine deaths dominated the headlines for a few fleeting weeks.

The tragic, though far from unexceptional, death of Katie French brought a transient frisson to a shabby and sad waste of young lives.

Yesterday’s statement from Dublin’s City Coroner that cocaine was a factor in almost one third of all inquests into drug-related deaths in the capital last year can only add to the concern surrounding our seemingly changing attitudes to cocaine use.

Of the 87 inquests into drug-related deaths, pure cocaine toxicity accounted for 14 deaths and cocaine was a contributory factor in another 14 deaths. Pure heroin toxicity accounted for 14 deaths, with heroin cited as a contributory factor in a further 12 drug-related deaths.

These are disturbing figures, even for a city of nearly one million people, and must give rise for concern and a concerted response. Add to this a report published in Britain yesterday that shows a 50% rise in the number of adults requiring medical treatment for the effects of cannabis use since the drug was downgraded from a class B to a class C drug. The number of adults being treated in England in hospitals or clinics for its effects has risen to more than 16,500 a year.

At this stage it is obvious that we need to do much more than continually recite lists of numbers and the names of loved ones lost. Just like the nuclear power debate we have to confront the issues and decide how society wants to confront drug culture.