Remember when cocaine was the drug everyone was concerned about? We don’t read much or hear much or see much on television about it today, but I believe there’s been a real resurgence in cocaine use, probably because people have forgotten what the cocaine outbreak was like.
Now we’re all worried about fentanyl, for good reason, of course. And a host of other synthetics already in the pipeline, such as the nitazenes we wrote about in early 2024.
But as I said, the old stalwarts are still around, still making trouble. Cocaine is just one of them. And not only in the US, but in other countries as well.
Here in America, some 4.3 million to 6.5 million people aged 12 and older used cocaine in the past year, says the UN World Drug Report. That translates to an estimated 2 million active users each month, another 1.3 million who would qualify for a Cocaine Use Disorder.
Not surprisingly, 18 to 25-year-olds constitute the fastest growing user population, preparing a new generation of people in need of treatment.
Across the pond in the United Kingdom, growth is even more pronounced. It’s the same pattern as decades before — cocaine gets a foothold as a party drug, and spreads rapidly from there.
A major investigation by The Guardian reveals that the English consumed an estimated 123,000 kilograms of cocaine in 2024-2025 alone. That represents a 26% increase just since 2021.
“Will we ever learn from our past experience?” wails someone in an online comment in another prominent British news publication.
It sure doesn’t look like it.
