“IT’S as easy as buying a drink from an off-licence.” That is how Ellen Romans, a recovering drug addict, describes picking up cocaine near where she lives in London. And today top-notch blow is much cheaper than it was five years ago, when she started using it heavily. David McManus, her treatment worker at Blenheim, a rehabilitation charity, agrees. Pubs and bars are “flooded” with the stuff. Dealers know that their product is no longer scarce. They are more tolerant of hagglers and are resorting to gimmicks, including Black Friday discounts, to boost sales.
The observations of Ms Romans and Mr McManus (not their real names) fit a countrywide pattern. There are signs that changes are afoot in the cocaine market. Though overall use has not increased, supply seems to have soared and dealers are offering a purer product.
One indication of growing supply is the volume of cocaine seized each year. Between 2010 and 2016 this doubled, to 5.5 tonnes, even as seizures of other hard drugs fell. Analysis of sewage by the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction suggests a similar trend. It found that the prevalence of substances the body produces when it breaks down cocaine has doubled in London in the past five years. In Bristol it has jumped by 60% since data collection started in 2014. This probably captures a rise in purity.
And though the use of powdered coke is stable, crack has become more popular. Modelling by academics at Liverpool John Moores University suggest that the number of users rose by about 10% between 2011-12 and 2014-15. These estimates rely on data from prisons and treatment centres, and are thought to be more accurate than surveys, which under-represent those most likely to develop crack dependency.
Data from the National Crime Agency (NCA) on small-scale drug busts show that cocaine purity rose steadily from 26% in 2011 to 44% in 2015. Crack saw a similar increase. This has not gone unnoticed on the street. Mr McManus says that punters looking for top-notch cocaine in London used to ask for “shine”. But that word has almost fallen out of use as quality has improved.
