DRUG users are starting to inject stimulants like cocaine and amphetamines to get their hit.
A major new report into global drug use predicts 10 per cent of all new HIV and hepatitis C cases will be linked to injecting the class A drugs.
2
The drugs, which are typically inhaled, are behind a surge in the number of Brits taking illegal substances – with numbers reaching record levels last year.
It comes as experts call for a new international approach to tackling drug use, in the prestigious Lancet journal.
They focus on four issues – the opioid crisis, cannabis legalisation, a spiralling stimulant problem and emerging new psychoactive substances, also known as ‘legal highs’ and including things like spice and mephedrone.
Record number Brits using Class As
Last month Home Office stats showed a total of 3.7 per cent of 16 to 59-year-olds reported taking the most dangerous drugs in 2018/19.
It equates to around 1.3million people, according to the data based on findings from the Crime Survey of England and Wales.
With more people putting their lives on the line, viewing cocaine as a drug without consequences, The Sun launched the End Of The Line campaign earlier this year.
The aim is to raise awareness of the devastating impact even ‘casual’ use of the killer drug can have – with experts warning it can trigger depression, paranoia and suicidal thoughts, as well as fatal heart problems.
Yesterday, MPs called for all drugs, including cocaine and heroin, to be decriminalised, to try and combat a rising number of drug-related deaths.
The controversial move would mean anyone caught with a ‘modest’ amount of drugs would not be arrested, fined or sent to prison.
Rather, the Health and Social Care Committee, said drug users should be given the chance to beat their addictions, and given access to specialist treatments and services on the NHS.
2
Decriminalise to save lives
Now, the global report adds weight to the idea.
Commenting on the report, Prof Ian Hamilton, a senior lecturer in addiction and mental health at the University of York, told The Sun Online: “The UK, like many countries continues to criminalise people who use drugs.
“The report’s authors call for this to stop and instead ask that governments adopt a health-based approach to drug policy.”
The report warns that the surge in people taking stimulants like cocaine, “present major challenges to health and justice services” across the world.
Globally, around four in 1,000 people used cocaine, while seven in 1,000 used amphetamines last year.
Experts predict of those, 16 per cent and 11 per cent respectively, developed addiction issues.
The report’s authors warned people who use stimulants have a mortality rate six times higher than those who do not.
“This risk being from elevated risk of suicide, injuries, cardiovascular disease and homicide,” the authors said.
They estimate around 178,000 deaths across the world are linked to cocaine use, while another 326,000 are down to amphetamine addiction.
Rise in drug uses injecting cocaine
And they warned the health implications don’t stop there.
The drugs are also linked to higher risk of mental health issues, violence, injury, STIs and blood borne viruses as well as harm to unborn babies.
The authors estimate that, on average, every 10 per cent increase in people injecting stimulants could account for an extra 5-10 per cent of new HIV infections, and 3-7 per cent of new hep C infections, every year.
Investment must focus on this area, as experts note there are very few effective treatments for people addicted to cocaine and amphetamines.
They also predict that up to 10 per cent of new HIV / Hepatitis C cases will be due to injecting stimulants like cocaine and amphetamines
Prof Ian Hamilton, University of York
Report co-author Prof Michael Farrell, from the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre, UNSW Sydney, said: “Insufficient long-term investment for research and application of evidence-based treatments for stimulant dependence has led governments to rely on law enforcement.
“Globally, and particularly in the Asia-Pacific region, policy has been dominated by incarceration, with an estimated 235,000 people detained in compulsory drug detention centres in which major infringements of human rights occur.
“Instead, problems with stimulants require sustained, comprehensive strategies to reduce long-term use and dependence, and substantial research investment is needed to develop these.”
Prof Hamilton, who did not take part in the research, added: “It makes clear how ill-prepared many governments are to deal with changing trends in drug use.
“In particular, the new ways that many people source drugs – via the internet for example – and how difficult it is to detect and keep abreast of new psychoactive drugs.
“But it’s not limited to ‘new drugs’, the lack of evidence-based treatment for people with cocaine dependency is also highlighted.
“They also predict that up to 10 per cent of new HIV/Hepatitis C cases will be due to injecting stimulants like cocaine and amphetamines.”
Opioid crisis: People are needlessly dying
Reflecting on the opioid crisis, that’s prevalent in the US and becoming a growing issue this side of the Atlantic, Prof Hamilton said the report highlights how many people are needlessly dying from the prescription drugs.
“People are dying when they needn’t, if only they had access to substitute therapies like methadone,” he stressed.
“Although the report highlights this issue in America, it is also relevant for the UK.
“We still don’t provide treatment to everyone who needs it, partly due to funding cuts but also due to limits put on methadone doses by prescribers.”
Fellow co-author of the Lancet report, Prof Louisa Degenhardt, also from UNSW Sydney, concluded: “In the face of growing and evolving drug challenges, we must turn our backs on old ways of thinking and encourage new humane approaches – championing this new approach to encourage change worldwide.
“We must invest funds to develop treatments for drug use as a chronic disease, apply the evidence-based policies and treatments we have available, and adopt approaches based on public health and human rights.”
End Of The Line
Britain’s soaring cocaine use is creating a mental health crisis, destroying families and even leaving people with devastating physical deformities – in short, it wrecks lives.
That’s why The Sun launched its End Of The Line campaign, determined to bust the myth that cocaine is a party drug with no consequences.
We have heard heart-breaking stories from people whose lives have been torn apart by the drug, such as mum Nicola Abraham, whose son Jacob killed himself after taking coke on a night out.
More than 1.6million have read our cocaine stories, as celebrities like Jeremy McConnell and Danniella Westbrook opened up about the horrific toll their drug use has taken on their lives.
For both, the initial euphoria quickly descended into a life of anxiety and paranoia, two of the biggest side effects of cocaine.
Many readers got in touch to tell how their lives have also been blighted by a drug that people mistakenly think is harmless – telling horror stories of marriage breakdowns, family estrangement and even suicide.
We’ve been thanked for “highlighting the massive problem” by one reader, with several saying the campaign is “really important” and one admitting Nick Conn’s story of abusing cocaine while working as a policeman “moved” them as it hit home so hard.
The campaign has also been backed by organisations including charities SANE and DrugFAM, as well as doctors across the country.
