Mick Fuller reveals how cocaine epidemic is infiltrating Australian suburbs

Cocaine use is now a national epidemic with an Australia-wide investigation revealing how it has permeated polite society and become the drug of choice for all ages.

Cocaine use is now a national epidemic causing as much damage as ice, NSW Police Commissioner Mick Fuller said.

Mr Fuller detailed the middle-class devastation caused by cocaine for Powder Keg, a groundbreaking series launched on Tuesday which delves deep into the lives, the crooks and the cash behind Australia’s insatiable cocaine habit.

He has declared “a whole new class” of welfare-dependent drug addict is emerging in our society as high-earning suburban folk succumb to the drug.

NSW Police Commissioner Michael Fuller has said cocaine is now a national epidemic, causing as much damage as ice. Picture: Jonathan Ng

“The problem is predominantly middle class and is ruining the lives of not only young people but people of all ages and professions,’’ he said.

“It’s normally the friend of someone who facilitates the addiction … and that slowly ruins your marriage, your job and your finances.

“We often talk about the suppliers and the dealers but this drug is invariably introduced to people by a friend and that friend is as bad as the drug dealers we lock up.”

In a sweeping interview, Mr Fuller paints a horrifying picture that’s getting worse.

Although more people are caught with ice than cocaine in NSW, cocaine possession rates have risen an average 17 per cent a year for a decade while the much publicised ice epidemic has grown 11 per cent annually.

At up to $450 for a gram – a small bag – the drug is making “accidental dealers” out of well-paid professionals who are fuelling their secret addiction.

“They start out using, then they know who is a dealer and they get some for a friend and from there it grows,” Mr Fuller said.

“Then they find themselves in the justice system not just as a person in possession of a small amount of cocaine but looked at and treated as a supplier.

“I see and hear of it time and time again, even lawyers who fall into the cocaine trap, not realising their life is escalating out of control.’’

Dealers charge up to $450 for a gram of cocaine.

Cocaine is so prevalent in Sydney it is considered, for some, no different to having a drink at the pub – in fact it is referred to as “nosebeers” among the young crowd.

Mr Fuller said cocaine, while cheaper and different in nature to methamphetamine, was arguably more corrosive to society.

“There has been an enormous focus on ice and ice in Western Sydney and regional NSW,” he said.

“In a way (cocaine) is almost more destructive because you are taking a family where both parents work, they are not on benefits.

“Those who are known to us are in the system, they are easier to give assistance to.

“What we are creating is a whole new class of people who will need social assistance because of cocaine.

Watch Australia’s Cocaine Crisis this Sunday at 7.30pm on Sky News.

“With heroin and ice it is so apparent when people are addicted, they change dramatically both physically and mentally very quickly. But with cocaine you don’t find out until its too late.’’

Mr Fuller believes the answer is in the long game of better education, rather than an argument over legalising drugs.

“The problem is these debates often get hijacked by people who want to legalise drugs, which happened with the ice summit. It distracts from solutions in my view,” he said.

“In all the social things we could change, the messaging, the education at school, diversion programs, what dominates the agenda is legalising drugs.’’