Coke users feel the pinch

Some 2.6 percent of Spaniards between the ages of 15 and 64 (that is, 814,000 people) admit to using cocaine. It may well be the most deceptive, perverse drug on the market, because it wreaks havoc in silence, is related to a lifestyle of constant leisure and entertainment and linked to a certain economic status. But above all else cocaine's treachery lies in the way that it disguises the feeling of addiction among users. It operates like an army of woodworms, which eat away little by little.

Fifteen years ago, when cocaine use became widespread and the white stuff abounded at private parties and nightclubs, its use peaked at 3.1 percent of the population: over one million people. But now, the health ministry's latest poll has detected a new trend that gives reason for optimism: cocaine use is in decline.

So why have more than 200,000 Spaniards quit using coke? Ministerial advisors point to a number of different causes, but they basically all agree on one principle driver: the financial crisis, which has diminished purchasing power while the prices of the drug have remained high.

These are some of the findings of the latest nationwide poll on drug use, which will be made public in the next few days. But the new health minister, Leire Pajín, has already announced some of the most optimistic results referring to cocaine.

The survey has shown a moderate stabilization in use of the drug among students between the ages of 14 and 18. Whereas in 2004, 7.2 percent of those surveyed admitted to having used cocaine in the last year, in 2006 this figure dropped to 4.1 percent, and a year later, to 3.6 percent. "What's more, the trends are usually consistent; young people's attitudes tend to stretch through to adulthood," says psychiatrist Carlos Álvarez Vara, an advisor to the Health Ministry and one of the five authors of the clinical report on cocaine. In other words, this decline among adolescents should apply, sooner or later, to adults. And this is precisely what the recent survey has reflected.

All the same, Spain is, together with the United Kingdom, the country in the European Union with the highest rate of cocaine use. Experts do not refute this piece of data. But they also point out that both of these countries conduct polls of this nature on a regular basis, using a very reliable methodology, whereas the opposite occurs in other European countries. Spain has always been the gateway for cocaine from Latin America, which is now diverted through Africa.

Álvarez Vara and Doctor Marta Torrens, another ministerial advisor who works at Barcelona's Hospital del Mar, point out at least a half a dozen reasons for this decline in cocaine use. But the financial crisis tops the list. According to Oriol Esculies, director of the Catalan branch of Proyecto Hombre (an NGO specialized in the rehabilitation of drug-dependent individuals), over 95 percent of all those who have requested treatment this year have done so due to a lack of purchasing power, because money is starting to run short. In 2009, this organization helped no less than 6,280 cocaine abusers.

"The vast majority of those who come in for rehab blame it on money, their debts, the fact that they've lost their jobs. And they can't afford it anymore. This also affects our admissions, which are voluntary and have gone down by half since last year," says Esculies. "Of course this has had an impact. People don't have as much money to spend. In that regard, I disagree with the minister," says Álvarez Vara. "The price of cocaine has been stable for years, at between 50and 60 eurosa gram. I think the crisis has been the biggest factor," says Marta Torrens. The price has not gone up, despite the fact that the police confiscated mass quantities of coke - 25 tons - in 2009.

If so many cocaine users can't afford the drug anymore, why aren't they turning to crime? Because the profile of your average cocaine user is different from that of other drug addicts. The typical cocaine abuser is an employed male aged 35 to 45 who makes at least 36,000 euros a year and has a very active social life, plays sports and takes care of his physical appearance. But he also leads a double life that he keeps secret from his family and friends - except those who share his addiction.

Torrens also notes the influence of certain media campaigns about the hazards of cocaine use, "because they've helped raise awareness about the risk and the danger - physical as well as mental- of the drug." Yet Álvarez Vara has doubts about the effectiveness of these campaigns, since there is no way to measure it: "Some of them are very erratic, undifferentiated, and they're not targeting population that can be counted," he says. This psychiatrist applauds actions carried out by city councils and local organizations at schools, neighborhood associations and parents associations, "because they also provide recreational alternatives, and prevention must be done before kids turn 18," he adds.

Another factor has been the training of health professionals by the regional governments, so they know what guidance to offer adolescents at risk of addiction.

In spite of these optimistic findings about a downturn in cocaine use, Torrens thinks that the poll should be picked apart to make sure it hasn't been accompanied by a rise in use of other drugs. For example, he points out the increase in online sales of synthetic drugs like mephedrone, a kind of fertilizer, and "spice".

Oriol Esculies explains how in unfavorable economic situations, cocaine use is diverted to other, cheaper products. This leads to an increased use of alcohol and cannabis, which are much more accessible and affordable.