Cocaine convictions - Insatiable appetites

YESTERDAY afternoon’s conviction of three men — a fourth man had earlier pleaded guilty — in the Dunlough Bay cocaine case raises serious concerns for us all.

The scale of the seizure — 1.5 tonnes — made it one of the 10 largest cocaine hauls in the world last year. The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime suggestion that Ireland is not considered a centre for redistribution indicates a huge domestic demand.

Our annual cocaine total for 2007 — 1.75kg — was compared to the 2006 totals of 31 European countries. Ireland had the sixth highest figure. An island of just 4.2 million people had more cocaine seized than Germany (population: 82m) and nearly half that of Britain (61m).

This appetite is confirmed by the almost daily murders in drug gangs’ turf wars.

Though this society has been ravaged by alcohol abuse for generations it seems we have chosen to ignore all of the evidence of the very similar and lethal impact cocaine can have on our lives. Why is that?