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Geschrieben von CGWW News
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Tuesday, 08 April 2008 |
 The UK has always been keener on drugs than most of its neighbours, with illegal substances playing a much larger part in a 'good night out' than the majority of other countries in Europe, however, one has to be a bit surprised by the recent reports in the news from independent drugs advice and support charities like DrugScope and HURT, its counterpart in Ireland, that the price of a line of "charlie" is now actually lower than a pint of beer.
The UK has always been keener on drugs than most of its neighbours, with illegal substances playing a much larger part in a 'good night out' than the majority of other countries in Europe, however, one has to be a bit surprised by the recent reports in the news from independent drugs advice and support charities like DrugScope and HURT, its counterpart in Ireland, that the price of a line of cocaine is now actually lower than a pint of beer. However, while the price of cocaine has remained reasonably stable over the last several years, these jaw-dropping figures can be blamed on the United Kingdom's rampant increases in taxation, with the Chancellor of the Exchequer announcing a 6% increase in this year's budget, so all-in-all, about 4p on a pint of beer, and a staggering 55p on a bottle of spirits. Bear in mind the retailer's policy of always rounding up to the nearest 10p and you have some pretty hefty increases indeed.
However, this writer would hazard a guess that such sensational statements regarding the cost of cocaine are being used as media attention-grabbers as much as anything else. One of the key motivations behind the illegality of substances like Cannabis and Ecstasy has always been that the completely legal alcohol industry, which is a government Cash Cow, stands to lose billions as users switch from booze to drugs - however, in the vast majority of cases, people use cocaine to increase their drinking 'ability' - booze and coke are complimentary goods. While it's widely documented that people in their ecstasy 'honeymoon' period tend to dramatically reduce if not totally stop their alcohol consumption, reports of people ditching alcohol in favour of coke are few and far between.
It's fairly safe to say, however, that the British government does have a bit of a mess on its hands. Cocaine is so popular now it's perceived as a 'safe' drug, which it clearly isn't. The health risks and behavioural problems associated with cocaine are far more severe than those with cannabis, or MDMA.
Successive crackdowns on first Ecstasy, then its precursor chemicals have meant the quality of pills in the UK has sunk to an all-time low, with prices reflecting the quality of the product - these days it's possible to pick up a pill for under ?1 (although the chance of it containing MDMA are minimal - these days you?re most likely to get the decongestant pseudoephedrine mixed with a fairly generous dose of caffeine), meaning former peaceful Ecstasy heads are eschewing their drug of choice, as it's really no longer worth the effort. They are now moving inexorably towards being twitching, sniffing, alcoholic cokehead egomaniacs.
It's a real shocker when the per-unit cost of a product manufactured illegally halfway across the world, going through the hands of countless murderous gangsters and similar shady characters and feeling the full wrath of America's 'War On Drugs' can still be lower than the price of a cold drink made locally from hops, malt and water. Yet Britain wonders why more and more of its citizens are turning to illegal drugs? The world's gone mad, I tell you! |
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