Is cocaine killing our young people? Where are the facts?
December 17th, 2007 by Frank
It’s hard not to be under the impression that we are under siege from cocaine in Ireland at the moment, it’s screaming at us from tabloid headlines for the last few weeks, and has been slowly building to this crescendo for several months now.
It has all come to a head with the deaths of Katy French and of Kevin Doyle and John Grey.
But what exactly killed these young people? Firstly, Katy French’s death may not have been directly cocaine related, but who would guess that from most of the media reporting? Until the rumours are confirmed, let’s not give them more weight than they deserve.
So that leaves Kevin Doyle and John Grey. These two young men reportedly ate cocaine when it got too damp to snort.
And yet no report I have seen, heard or read has mentioned how this can be dangerous. I admit freely I don’t follow current affairs very closely, but these stories have been hard to avoid, and yet I am left wondering how these young men died.
The chances are that the two young men overdosed when they took the drug by eating it – but this is not something I have read in any report of their deaths.
Young people who use cocaine and know that eating cocaine doesn’t automatically result in death will find this kind of reporting hysterical and will not relate the deaths of these young men to their own circumstances.
If the country is in the grips of a dangerous epidemic, shouldn’t a responsible media be helping to educate and inform a public who may be in danger of killing themselves? Surely the media could do a much better job of alerting the public to the very real dangers of cocaine use or abuse?
There have been some efforts of course, I shouldn’t tar everyone with the same brush, for example the Sunday Tribune has an interesting article on Cocaine use in Ireland which has at least some theories from a doctor on why we are seeing an increase in Cocaine related deaths in Ireland.
Dr Chris Luke, consultant in emergency medicine in Cork Universiy Hospital, says that long term users put their heart under huge strain over a long period such that eventually even taking a couple of lines could be the straw that broke the camel’s back and the heart can just give out.
He says this is why we are now seeing an increase in cocaine related deaths, because long term users are begining to suffer the consequences.
Also mentioned is a general figure believed by medics, though not backed in the article by any specific report: ‘between 0.1 and 1% of people who dabble in it (coke) will pay with their lives’
Dr Chris Luke also, interestingly, links ‘the alcohol epidemic’ in this country with ‘the coke epidemic. He points out that with drink taken coke can seem more attractive, and with Coke taken you can drink more, leading to a dangerous spiral since he says mixing coke and alcohol can be more dangerous than coke alone.
A separate article in the Tribune quotes that cocaine and alcohol combine in the system to form another drug, cocaethylene, which can seriously affect the functioning of the heart and has been a contributory factor in many cocaine related deaths.
That same article also quotes Dr Chris Luke as saying “ingesting cocaine can lead to death within 30 minutes.” However what does this mean? Ingesting cocaine does not automatically mean you will die according to other sources so how can it lead to death within 30 minutes? If you overdose? If it’s ‘bad’ cocaine?
Pat Carey has announced that ‘over 5m has been earmarked to educate youngsters over the next nine months about the dangers of drugs, particularly cocaine, through advertisements and a national education programme for senior second-level students.’
This, at least, is good news. Here’s hoping it’s an informed educational programme. In the meantime here’s a PDF of some cocaine facts.
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December 17th, 2007 at 11:07 am
I would guess that from the media point of view all cocaine use is abuse as it is illegal. They would also argue that they are educating and informing the public by saying “don’t take it.”
December 17th, 2007 at 12:35 pm
But saying ‘don’t take it’ is much like a parent saying ‘because I said so’. It doesn’t hold any weight. However if the media painted a balanced and realistic picture we might avoid further deaths.
If you do a search for ‘eating cocaine’ you will find several stories about people dying by cocaine ingestion, usually for the same reasons: the cocaine became damp and unsnortable.
I had never heard of someone eating cocaine before, but judging from the research I did to try and find out about it, it’s not entirely uncommon.
Therefore we can assume that people do, and will, eat cocaine when they can’t put it up their nose. So if the media explained why and how this can be dangerous we would be likely to avoid further deaths.
Otherwise cocaine users may simply assume that the young people in Waterford got a bad batch of cocaine or something and that it is otherwise safe to eat it.
Know what I mean?
December 17th, 2007 at 5:12 pm
If they tell people eating cocaine isn’t safe they won’t do it? I’m not sure about that! They tell people taking cocaine is bad and they do that. They tell them injecting heroine is bad and they do that. They tell them sharing needles is bad and they do that…
Assuming the people in Waterford got a bad batch and still taking cocaine is stupid too. If they got a bad batch in Waterford you can get a bad batch in Cork or Dublin or wherever too. People who use cocaine or any other illegal drug have no idea where it’s coming from and they still use it.
And that’s before I start on the health effects!
December 17th, 2007 at 5:34 pm
People might still eat it, but might eat an amount which would get them high and not kill them. That would be a plus in my book.
As for bad batches… legalise it. This would have the added bonus effect of begining to eliminate the power struggle in the criminal world for control over distribution…
Not a simple issue I know but I thought I would throw it in the mix!
December 18th, 2007 at 1:19 am
If cocaine were legal and proved to be very popular would that not create the problem of a very large, much larger than now, swathe of the population addicted to cocaine and constantly high. In such a situation (by no means a guaranteed outcome but also a realistic possibility) three immediate issues spring to mind and these are:1. who would foot the bill? 2. Who would pick up the rubbish and clean the streets and 3. isn’t this a very close thing to Huxley’s BNW and ‘soma’.
I would be for the legalisation of marijuana but I think cocaine is too dangerous, too aggressive and too soul-destroying to be promoted or even tolerated. I think the recent spate of deaths highlights that.
December 18th, 2007 at 1:22 am
By the way, I love the way you ask ‘Is cocaine killing our YOUNG people?.’ You old fogey, you Frank. Looking forward to a nice new pair of slippers this Christmas again, eh?
December 18th, 2007 at 1:41 am
Yeah the title was a direct response to the tabloid headlines. But you know me, old at heart.
To be honest Martin I don’t feel strongly about legalising cocaine, but I do think it should be discussed and not dismissed, and I also despise the hypocrisy of people who are adamant it’s evil and then go out and get locked on their own vice of choice.
I remember reading a very well written article about the US ‘War on drugs’ and how it was essentially propping up an industry of violence and criminality. The article made a very good argument for legalisation, one which I completely forget now.
Love to find it again.
December 18th, 2007 at 1:53 am
Yes, I’d be all for a discussion, a pilot scheme even, but points like those I mentioned should be considered as well. I think ultimately destructive addiction comes from an emptiness and maybe it’s time people started asking themselves questions about why they take drugs or want to ‘
get locked on their own vice of choice’, as you put it yourself. I’m for recreational use in a safe environment but addiction is another matter.
December 18th, 2007 at 1:58 am
Martin, it’s a first. We agree about something on the interwebnet.
December 18th, 2007 at 1:58 am
And addiction could be anything, addicted to sweets, pizza, extreme weight loss(eating disorders), misery(depression), theft(kleptomania).
December 18th, 2007 at 2:03 am
I’m sure we’ve stood on common ground before Frank. Must have, sometime, eh, surely we did…..
December 18th, 2007 at 4:17 am
To suggest anything other than the “fact” that cocaine is killing people is bordering on the ridiculous.
It really doesn’t matter whether or not Katy French or the two lads in Waterford died from it or not… it does not change the fact that it is happening.
Speaking as someone who works in the pharmaceutical industry (with a white powder as it happens) you have no idea the lengths that are gone to ensuring that what you put into your body is safe. The purity of ingredients and final product, quality of the water used to wash equipment, quality of the air that the product comes into contact with… the endless paper work ensuring strict recipes and procedures are followed. And all of this is constantly checked, updated and audited by external bodies.
It amazes me that people would be willing to trust criminals operating outside the law and without regulation and with most likely no knowledge of (or interest in) health and safety of their customers. Don’t get me wrong… the pharmaceutical industry doesn’t care either but it is regulated to death and a bad audit or a product recall would hit a company’s share price and they do care about that!
As for legalisation… DVD’s, music, cigarettes, drink, petrol, diesel, clothes… all legal… all have healthy black markets operating all over this country and the world. There is so much of a mark up involved in the class A drugs that legalising them would do little or nothing for the quality of the drugs available on the street.
What we need to do- and there is no way in hell we’ll actually do it- is look at why we as a society need to get stoned, high or pissed out of our minds on such a huge scale. We have a drug problem. We’ve had a drink problem since forever. Why? Why do we need to get out of our heads every weekend and at every occasion? Are we unhappy as a race? Are we insecure? Do we have issues of an emotional nature such that we cannot express ourselves without being intoxicated?
December 18th, 2007 at 11:24 am
Frank, cocaine can induce a wide variety of negative effects, many of which are life threatening. Cosmetically, intrnasal cocaine use will rot the nose, nasal passagen septum and the palate. Seizures, coma and delerium are symtoms along with hyperthermia are all short term risks of cocaine use, as is cardiac damage and even intermeidate use can increase this to cardiac arrest and failure. The effect on the heart is due to an increase in blood pressure, and some reports state that even single cocaine use can iduce cardiac failure (however this presupposes previous cardiac damage). The most common long term effects are ichemic colitis (bowel damage, with about 30% of death – this is often associate with cocaine ingestion) and renal damage leading to renal failure. This is just the effects of just cocaine, not any of the most common impurities. And ultimately this is why it has remained an illegal substance.
Dave, I think that cocaine abuse is not as societal as you you stated above (although I agree with your points entirely in relation to alcohol abuse). Cocaine use leads to acute tolerance after the first use, with users “chasing” the first high with increased dosage. This leads to a binge-fast cycle, where binging becomes longer and fasting becomes shorter. Annecdotal accounts of people abusing at weekends only are in relation to people in the early stages of addiction.
December 18th, 2007 at 1:11 pm
Dave: I’m not disputing people are dying from cocaine I’m saying the media aren’t telling us HOW they are dying from cocaine abuse.
John: Tobacco remains legal despite massive proven health risks… yes I’m just being provocative.
Also, I have first hand experience of people who have used cocaine recreationally for years with no ill effects or addiction. I’m not saying they use it every weekend or anything, I couldn’t tell you how often, maybe once every couple of months or something.
Don’t get me wrong though, I’m not saying cocaine isn’t a problem – it is and crack, which has already begun to manifest itself in this country will probably be our next big problem – partly as a result of powdered cocaine’s popularity.
We have other countries experiences with these drugs to learn from, but without measured debate instead of anti-drugs hysteria we are doomed to simply repeat their errors.
December 18th, 2007 at 4:40 pm
[...] Frank asks for the facts behind the cocaine deaths in Ireland recently. I wondered what the odds of dying from cocaine are. Is it really as low as between 0.1% and 1%? How does that compare to road deaths? [...]
December 18th, 2007 at 5:52 pm
Frank, using for years every few months (recreational or not) constitutes an addiction.
Every time cocaine is abused, it doubles the abusers risk of a stroke.
I think the only debate to be had here is with the legal system which is clearly not doing enough to curb its distribution and sale.
December 18th, 2007 at 6:07 pm
No John, I’m sorry but that is simply incorrect. Otherwise the figures for alcoholism would be much closer to 100% in this country as people recreationally use alcohol without being addicted every week.
December 18th, 2007 at 8:35 pm
The media’s job is to sell advertising… not to inform or educate us Frank.
I dare say if alcohol were a new product on the market today that it would be much harder to legalise it… but there you go, that’s the socitey we live in and they are the norms we have accepted over the generations. I don’t think it is an argument that will get very far.
I have to say I would be siding with John on this issue. I find it very hard to accept that cocaine use is safe at any level and as former minister for justice McDowell said those who take coke have blood on their hands!
If you are only willing to accept the “facts” that suit your side of the argument- I’m not saying you are necessarily- then there is no point in even getting into the debate on this issue.
December 19th, 2007 at 2:28 am
If you are willing to accept norms because their norms that’s fine, me I prefer to question.
My point in relation to alcohol was to point out to John that his definition of addiction was factually incorrect.
We could discuss the role of the media in society alone ad infinitum, however my argument still stands that hysterical anti drugs stories may be counter productive to any efforts to get young people to avoid drugs or at least avoid killing themselves while taking them.
As for finding it hard to accept any level of use of cocaine is safe, William Burroughs used it practically his whole life and had this to say about it: “The desire for cocaine can be intense. I have spent whole days walking from one drug store to another to fill a cocaine prescription. You may want cocaine intensely, but you don’t have any metabolic need for it. ”
So is it smart or safe? No, but it IS possible to use and not die. As with alcohol, albeit cocaine is a more psychologically addictive drug.
here’s another interesting article, and another one
I don’t understand why you bring up this point about accepting facts. Either you feel I am guilty of this or you don’t – which is it?
December 19th, 2007 at 10:44 am
I beg to differ Frank. Routes of addiction are different for different drugs. The rush obtained from coaine (due to a build up of dopamine in the neuroreceptors) is so strong that “during periods of abstinence from cocaine use, the memory of the euphoria associated with cocaine use, or mere exposure to cues associated with drug use, triggers tremendous craving and relapse to drug use, even after long periods of abstinence” (US National Institute of Drug Abuse). The fact that people need to re-abuse cocaine to retain this high after a period of abstinence constitutes an addiction to cocaine.
With your regards to your point on alcohol abuse/addiction, you may not be too wrong in what you say. Check out this page http://www.bbc.co.uk/health/conditions/addictions/typesaddiction_alcohol.shtml and the survey attached. Medically, your number of 100% might not be far off.
On another point, its interesting that we have had a chroic heroin problem for over 20 years in this country, but since it is not a middle class drug (like cocaine), it gets very little news coverage.
December 19th, 2007 at 1:04 pm
I’m with you 100% on the heroin problem.
And unfortunately chances are the cocaine problem will turn into a much bigger crack problem which in turn will get ignored as it moves into the same social strata as heroin.
December 20th, 2007 at 10:17 pm
Right. I’m a bloody kid! Listen it doesn’ help ALL DA ADVERTISMENTS. We just get offered them and we say ok.
December 20th, 2007 at 10:22 pm
Us kids. We dont look up to see how dangerous cocain is! We get fucking asked if we want some or offered n most of us say ok!:@ I know that! I’m a bloody 12-13 yr old. I DO NOT TAKE COCAIN! N i wont but a few of ma mates do. N they dont wanna stop n they’ve seen what it can do to u. They dont care. Sum people do. N they try 2 stop but they cant. I think Frank is so rong! He has A BIT OF A IDEA
January 24th, 2008 at 8:53 pm
my name is zoe savage and i have spent the last 5 years in ecuador for carrying cocaine to london,i was set up by a friend,x friend.i am working on some projects at the moment and i also wrot a book in prison with a lot of info about that dirty drug.please let me know any way i can help in helping others
January 25th, 2008 at 12:42 am
zoe, where are you now? What is your book called?
February 5th, 2008 at 5:46 pm
I visited you in prison last year. I hope you are out and am wondering how to connect. We were the two women who brought you shampoo etc….. I have prayed for your release. Where are you now?
May 6th, 2008 at 10:29 am
Zoe! Email me please?????
October 31st, 2008 at 9:56 pm
i’m a recreational coke user and feel i can add something to this discussion. I have probably been taking coke for 6 years about once or twice a month sometimes i will go 3 or 4 months without touching it. Im not a huge drinker and much prefere the lucidity that cocain gives, i hate getting drunk and out of control. I have been taking this drug for many years and never increased my intake no matter whats happening in my life. Some of my friends are heavy drinkers and i cant help but think they are doing themselves more damage than i am, getting legless every weekend. I know coke is highly addictive and have seen friends get in trouble with the substance, but no more than a cross section of people i know with alcohol. I will continue to use it as it is my vice, i dont have many and lead a fairly healthy active life. But cocain is everywhere, the market in britain is huge, i have people who i deal with, but if i didnt i can guarantee i could be in any small town in england and find some within an hour, its everywhere. Everything in life carry’s an inherant risk and the odd person taking too much or ingesting some and dying will happen, but how many deaths are caused by alcohol every weekend.
January 7th, 2009 at 5:09 pm
i take gear all the time and play football 3 times a week and its never caused me any problems what so ever! HTID
February 8th, 2009 at 8:34 pm
cocaine=bad
February 8th, 2009 at 8:35 pm
i take gear all the time and play football 3 times a week and its never caused me any problems what so ever! HTID