Shared Responsibility

In Focus - Cocaine

Written by Greame Green / Metro London Wednesday, 05 August 2009 15:56

Drugs are a sign of their times - the mind-expanding Sixties and Seventies had LSD, the hedonistic rave generation of the Nineties had Ecstacy. The era-defining substance at the start of the new century, according to journalist and author Tom Feiling, is cocaine: a high-speed drug for high-speed lives. "Cocaine fits the character of the times," says Feiling. "People want to be alert and 'up', that sense of being on the ball that cocaine gives them."
 
Cocaine use has increased sharply since the mid-Nineties. In July 2009, the British Crime Survey found the number of users has risen by 25 per cent in a year to almost one million, the highest number in Europe. More young adults in the UK now use cocaine than ecstacy.
 
Cocaine's always had a glamorous image, suggesting affluence and success (Robin Williams called it 'God's way of saying you're making too much money.'), but it's no longer restricted to ad men or the showbiz crowd. "It doesn't fit into normal drug sub-cultures," Feiling says. "It's crossed over to all kinds of stable, otherwise law-abiding professionals: teachers, lawyers, doctors, even police."
 
Cocaine users face many risks - street seizures by police in the UK found cocaine purity sometimes as low as four per cent, the rest bulked out with substances ranging from bicarbonate soda and laxatives to the dental drug Benzocaine. Cocaine's also been linked with a range of health problems, from respiratory disease to depression and hallucinations. The risks are increased for users of crack, a more powerful form of cocaine. Both can lead to addiction. But, Feiling argues, it's important to maintain perspective. "Many of those who use cocaine report relatively infrequent use and don't fit into that category of 'problematic' user or addict," he says. "We need to look at why some people become dependent, whether it's alcohol or cocaine." 
 

'Casual' users may think their few lines at the weekend does nobody, except potentially themselves, any harm. That's not the case, says Mick Matthews, of the Association of Chief Police Officers' (ACPO). "There's a direct link (between crime and buying drugs)," he argues. "Cocaine and heroin sit at the heart of a large majority of serious and organised crime in the UK and internationally. It fuels some of the street-gang violence we see up and down the UK. And drug money feeds illegal trades around the world, from funding terrorism to human trafficking."
 
Cocaine profits also work their way into the hands of paramilitaries and guerrillas, fuelling civil unrest in places like South America. "Europe's appetite for cocaine is enriching criminals and creating instability in countries along trafficking routes," says Antonio Maria Costa of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNDOC).
 
The government of Colombia recently launched a Shared Responsibility initiative to urge cocaine users' to consider their complicity in the problems caused by the cocaine trade, not just violence and crime, but also the environmental destruction of coca cultivation and cocaine production - every two grams of cocaine consumed equates to eight square meters of Colombian jungle being cut down. "Someone who might use cocaine casually on the weekends probably doesn't consider his or herself as a problem user," says Colombian Vice President Francisco Santos. "However, as a result of this supposedly harmless habit, massive environmental destruction is generated in countries like Colombia, where more than 200 thousand hectares of virgin forest are destroyed each year to grow coca. A casual cocaine habit has a large, negative global impact."
 
Is this knowledge likely to change people's behaviour? "It depends if governments can convince people that their cocaine consumption is fuelling terrible conflicts and suffering around the world," says Feiling. "People I spoke to know they're already breaking the law, so many didn't give a toss. But others say the reason cocaine causes all these problems is because governments have chosen to ban it. It becomes an argument for legalisation (see Box)."
 
The US's global 'war on drugs' has also not only failed, Feiling argues, but has, in many cases, strengthened the global drugs trade and made the situation worse - for example, money given to anti-drugs 'allies' in Colombia has ended up in the hands of corrupt officials.  The UK Drug Policy Commission's (UKDPC) report in June 2009 also found little evidence internationally for 'tough' or 'liberal' drug policies influencing the number of drug users, and that 'crackdowns' have little or no long term impact on street-level availability.
 
Force, it seems, can't tackle the drugs problem alone. Education may be the answer, but it's a notoriously difficult subject, with many teachers and parents either lacking real knowledge or forced to toe an official line of abstinence. "It's politically hard for a government to talk about safer drug use, when it's illegal, whereas you can talk about health issues for drinking," admits Harry Shapiro of drug education charity DrugScope. "There's good information out there. But some campaigns haven't been effective or have been criticised for being patronising."
 
Information has to be honest and credible, insists Feiling. "Once young people detect hypocrisy or that they're not getting the full story, they switch off," he says. "Rather than asking teachers questions, they're taking drug education from friends, which with a potentially harmful substance isn't ideal. We need a more straightforward approach, on the same basis as education about any other potentially dangerous activity, like drink or tobacco. You present the facts and ultimately trust the consumer or citizen to make an informed choice."
 
The Candy Machine: How Cocaine Took Over The World by Tom Feiling is out Aug 6 (Allen Lane, £9.99). For drugs information or help, visit www.drugsline.org. For more on Shared Responsibility, see www.sharedresponsibility.gov.co
 
 
BOX  - The Legalisation Debate

FOR - Tom Feiling, author - "Most people who object to legalisations say everyone will be taking it, it will have huge numbers of cocaine-dependent people, pressure on the NHS, people stopping going to work. If cocaine was legalised, you could have licensed suppliers. There'd be no more drug smugglers, no more cartels, no need to hire gunmen, no drug murders, no more police resources being diverted. You'd be taking away one of the biggest drivers of crime. Illegal armies around the world, whether Taliban or Colombian guerrillas, would be deprived of huge amounts of money. Drugs would be taxed, with huge amounts of money raised for education and treatment. There was a time when divorce, abortion and homosexuality were illegal, but you can't imagine those things being illegal now. There's a strong argument that legalisation would be better for the UK."

AGAINST - Harry Shapiro, DrugScope  - "Legalisation is usually an all-or-nothing debate. It's not a very helpful or productive argument. It's very easy to knock the system we've got and say we should bring in legalisation. We've got far more people drinking and smoking than using drugs, so you could argue the law is having some deterrent effect. The idea these multi-billionaire drug traffickers would just walk away is a little naïve. As far as a 'business plan' or argument for legalisation, I can't see anything convincing."
 
FACTBOX

Coca-Cola, originally based on Peruvian coca wine, used to contain nine milligrams of cocaine, until the company was forced to remove it from the formula in 1914 and stopped selling itself as a 'medicinal' tonic. The drink's red and white can design takes it colours from the Peruvian flag.

Cocaine was first isolated from coca leaves by a German chemist 140 years ago, but the leaves have been chewed by South Americans since 2100BC. Chewing them is said to increase strength, reduce pain and stave off tiredness and hunger. Coca's also been used in sacred rituals and traditions.

The long roll call of cocaine users includes Sigmund Freud, Robert Louis Stevenson, Stephen King, Robin Williams, Richard Pryor, Ozzy Osbourne, James Brown, Courtney Love, Robert Downey Jr, Amy Winehouse, Pete Doherty, and Kate Moss.

The UK currently has around 300 major importers of illegal drugs, with 3000 wholesalers and 70,000 street dealers - 1 in every 500 British people works in the illegal drugs business. The UK drugs trade is estimated to be worth between £7-8 billion per year. 33 tonnes of cocaine are imported annually, with a retail value of £1.6 billion.