Expert sounds alarm on ‘trendy’ cocaine

COCAINE, the drug of choice for A-­listers, the rich and the odd footy player, is making a ­resurgence in Tasmania.

Tasmania Police has seized five times as much ­cocaine in the past six months as the annual average for six years. Picture: ISTOCK

COCAINE  is making a ­resurgence in Tasmania.

The drug of choice for A-­listers, the rich and the odd footy player had been in short supply for decades.

And while “white gold” is far from dominant on the drug scene, Tasmania Police has seized five times as much ­cocaine in the past six months as the annual average for six years.

From July to February police intercepted 169g of cocaine — with a street value of between $50,700 and $84,000.

This compares with an annual median of 30g over the last six years.

Southern Drug Investigation Services inspector Jason Elmer said the drug was still found in low amounts but its prevalence had increased.

“It follows the national trend in that cocaine appears to be making a little bit of a ­resurgence,” Insp Elmer said.

“We certainly haven’t got to the point in Tasmania where we’re thinking, ‘gee, this is a real problem’ — I think it’s a bit of a niche market.

“We’ve seized small amounts in individual pack­ages from the mail centres. We’re certainly not seizing it at street level.”

The reasons for the increase are unknown but its arrival through the post indicates its availability over the internet.

The emergence of the so-called “dark web” to easily ­accessible sites where drugs can be procured has opened up avenues of trade for buyers and sellers.

The cocaine increase in Tasmania is hardly surprising given the national trend.

According to the latest UN World Drug Report, cocaine seizures in Oceania more than doubled from 1998-2008 to 2009-14. Australia accounted for 99 per cent of the seizures.

In the same period, cocaine use more than doubled from 1 per cent of the population to 2.1 per cent.

Another reason Tasmania could be seeing more coke is the tapering off of other drugs

“Ice was sort of the only drug that people spoke about and ... now cocaine is starting to stick its head up again,” Insp Elmer said.

Drug expert John Van Groningen, an adjunct professor from RMIT University, points to glamorising of cocaine.

“I think it has a lot to do with the culture, that is, ­cocaine has come to be a drug that’s taken by the trendy ... there’s probably a bit of peer pressure,” Professor Van Gron­ingen said.

“We all know certain ­celeb­rities, movie stars who have got picked up [with cocaine] and younger people are influenced by those kind of things.”

Despite its glitzy veneer, he said there was a dark side to using cocaine.

“A lot of people who start using cocaine assume it’s not highly addictive and consequently you can take it as a recreation drug and you won’t become addicted,” he said.

“Obviously that’s not very accurate.”

But cocaine use pales in comparison with drugs like ice, cannabis, ecstasy and pharmaceuticals.

Originally published as Expert sounds alarm on ‘trendy’ cocaine