Cocaine use increases as price drops
The drug can now be bought for as low as €60 a gram, a third less than the average price last year. The low price is attracting users in their early teens and cocaine is becoming increasingly popular among communities previously devastated by heroin.
As gardaí prepare to undertake a major study of who is taking cocaine, activists on the ground and drug squad sources said it is bound to reveal widespread and growing use across the social spectrum.
There were dozens of seizures of the drug over the last 12 months, ranging from values in the low thousands to million-plus finds such as one two days ago when a car was stopped on the Navan Road in Dublin.
Most seizures are in Dublin where cocaine use is most widespread. If cocaine seizures are increasing, then use is likely to be rising at the same rate, according to garda sources.
The trade is also fuelling violence as young gangs vie for a cut of the lucrative market. “In the old days you had maybe one or two main heroin suppliers,” said one community worker.
“Now it’s all fragmented and these gangs are more likely to settle arguments by shooting somebody.”
North inner city Dublin youth worker Paddy Malone has warned of the long term dangers of cocaine use. He claims users are younger and said he has already noticed the psychological effects among some in his community around the Buckingham Street district that was previously devastated by heroin.
Mr Malone added: “It’s messing up people pretty bad and there’s no medical treatment, such as methadone treatment for heroin users.”
Although not regarded as physically addictive, it is psychologically addictive as users find it difficult to come off the high of coke and face what becomes an increasingly mundane reality.” And with the market growing, young criminals, some extremely violent, are carving out their patches.
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