A survey of illegal drug across the world has found that 54% of Irish respondents want to use less cocaine next year, and of this number 14% want help to do so. This compares to a global average of 41.5% and 12.7% respectively.
The Global Drug Survey (GDS2019) asked over 123,000 people from over 35 countries questions about their drug-taking habits and compiled a comprehensive report on the subject. Of the 3363 people in Ireland who took part in the survey, 38.3% had reported using cocaine in the last year. The mean age of Irish respondents was 35; the global mean was 29.4.
The self-funded study aims to inform health policies for the benefit of people who use drugs and the wider community, it states. Of the total participants, 98.4% were white and 82.1% were in paid employment.
“Our work is increasingly recognised as a legitimate data source to better understand drug use and its impact on health around the world.”
The study describes how the cocaine trade in 2019 is booming. As well as leading to dependence and numerous health issues, including death, the cost of the failed international drug control system and the national policies that implement it are far greater, it says.
Just this week, Garda Chief Superintendent Christy Mangan highlighted Ireland’s massive issue with cocaine, and warned that the country would lose a generation of young people if the drugs problem wasn’t tackled as a national health issue.
Cocaine production at record levels
The global production of cocaine is up and last year the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime said it was at record levels. This surge in production means more of the product is reaching Irish shores.
The drug remains the most expensive commonly used drug in the world. The profit on a gram of cocaine from production in Colombia to point of sale in the EU is over 30,000%.
It had been hoped that the historic peace accord with Columbia’s FARC guerrillas, who were believed to have been a major player in the drug trade, would reduce production, but the opposite has happened. The US has pumped US$400 million into Columbia’s fight to reduce production and President Trump is said to be losing patience.
Colombians say they are constrained by a ban on a planned fumigation of hundreds of thousands of cocoa-producing lands due to health concerns. They also point out that 120,000 farmers rely solely on the crop for their livelihood. AlphaBiolabs has several drug testing options for cocaine including a home drug testing kit. We also offer Workplace Drug Testing. For information, please call 0140 29466 or email us at info@alphabiolabs.ie
