From a public health perspective, citizens of nations across the globe are generally of the belief that consuming hard drugs isn't the healthiest activity.
This public opinion is particularly relevant to certain popular stimulant substances, such as cocaine.
Regularly doing lines of coke can have some damaging effects on the human body. Do you know that cocaine is a vasoconstrictor?
It makes the human heart pump faster while also making the blood vessels narrower simultaneously.
This is the equivalent of holding your foot on a car accelerator as you also pinch the fuel line at the same time. It's not the most productive combination, to be sure.
However, serious health facts such as these do not stop drug-addicted people from getting a fix. And this is especially true in Britain, where the volume of cocaine usage has grown significantly during the last few years.
A comprehensive report from the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction found that the U.K. ranks highest among other European nations for cocaine use, with a four percent prevalence among people ages 15-34 years.
This is attributed to the fact that hard drugs are cheaper than they have been in decades past. Drug dealers understand that the product they offer is no longer in low supply, so they offer lots of discounts to boost their sales.
Most modern drug dealers operate their businesses online. At the same time, the convenience of online drug markets is also a draw for drug users.
Drug Market Boom in Britain
Why there is such boom in Britain's drugs market? First of all is the high demand. Another factor is an increase in cocaine suppliers marketing specifically to buyers in the U.K.
Colombia is one of the largest hard drugs dealers in the world.
According to a report from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, drug producers in Columbia have ramped up cultivation for the crop used to make cocaine (caca), from 96,000 hectares in 2015 to 146,000 in 2016.
One of the reasons of this is the collapse of the Colombian peso against the United States dollar a few years ago. This makes exports more profitable. In 2015, the government of Colombia stopped aerially spraying cocaine fields with weed killer.
Besides those factors, there was a special agreement between Colombia's government and the FARC rebel group. It included money compensation for those farmers who switched their fields from cocaine.
One more international factor was a significant fall in demand in the U.S. According to RAND consultants, estimate amounts of cocaine taken up by Americans decreased by half between 2006 and 2010.
There are many explanations of this, including the rising age of cocaine addicts and tough measures against traffic from Mexico.
But despite the cause, this excess could now feed Britain's bad habits.
Dark Web Adds to the Rise of Cocaine Use
Another contribution to the cocaine boom in Britain is the rise of dark web drug marketplaces.
According to recent Global Drugs Survey results, the share of drug users in Britain who buy their items from darknet markets increased from 12 percent in 2014 to 25 percent in 2017.
Narcotics bought via the dark web tend to be purer. This happens because drug vendors are afraid that low customer reviews can hurt their business.
Cocaine that's being sold on the dark web has an average purity of 72 percent, in comparison with 48 percent for street-sourced cocaine.
Adding to that fact, some experts suggest that Britain's anti-drugs laws could have boosted the potency of cocaine inadvertently.
Although many cocaine users might not recognize the problem in consuming the drug regularly, the real negative impact is heavily influenced by prolonged use over years.
It also depends on how you use it. Some research says the size of the cocaine lines makes a big difference.
While the problem of cocaine addition in Britain is worsening over time, the government is trying to reduce the nation's cocaine market. But unfortunately, their efforts are not working.
People should realize the dangers of taking hard drugs, and only in such way it could work. But for now, dark markets are growing and cocaine business flourishes in Britain.
Disclaimer:
You need to enable JavaScript to vote
