New cocaine trend causing more health risks
New patterns in cocaine use could put younger users at even more risk, reports the Guardian.
A new trend amongst cocaine users of mixing the drug in with other substances to allow them to drink for longer is causing health problems for 20 to 30 year olds. However, it is resulting in many users being admitted to hospital with liver and heart problems due to the substances the cocaine is being cut with.
The average purity of cocaine has fallen dramatically over the last 25 years, from 63% in 1984 to 45% in 2005 and 26% towards the end of 2007, but users were not aware of this, and could potentially need to use more of the drug in order to get the same high.
New figures show that over the last year 730,000 people in England and Wales have taken cocaine.