Of course, we all know that cocaine never really went away. It’s remained a common drug of abuse in the US and elsewhere. Still, the nation’s attention long ago shifted to other drug-related topics, and cocaine slipped into the background.
The opioid epidemic, for one. First came the surge in prescription painkiller use, followed by a resurgent black market for heroin, and currently, the dominance of fentanyl. All along we’ve been hearing about the debate over legalization of recreational cannabis, and I don’t want to neglect the emergence of vaping among young people, or those nicotine pouches, either.
You ever notice how often something we invent to help us address one problem — in this case, cigarette smoking — somehow evolves into something new we have to worry about?
Taken together, the above was more than enough to shove cocaine to the rear, media-wise. But now, we have persuasive evidence of the drug’s return to prominence.
As of 2023, some 14.2% of Americans over the age of 12 acknowledge having tried cocaine at least once. Among illegal drugs, that ranks second only to marijuana. Just under 2% reported cocaine use in the past year, and 0.7% say they’ve used coke in the last month.
When you consider that the US population is now above 330 million — those percentages are a lot more impressive. They translate to a vast number of cocaine users.
Another worrisome indicator: a marked upsurge in worldwide cocaine production. That’s the black market responding to increased demand. Something more on that subject:
Cocaine production is at its highest level on record, UN says
It’s not a good sign. During the pandemic, traffickers learned to avoid travel restrictions by making extensive use of the mails, as well as private package delivery services.
Most of the cocaine traffic is still in North and South America and in Europe. But cocaine consumption seems to be increasing all over the world, including Africa and Asia.
Once the product has arrived, dealers will invariably find ingenious ways to deliver the drugs to the customer. Some of them are more than a little silly. An example:
Side of cocaine with that? German police raid pizzeria after finding secret ingredient
