The Independent<\/i><\/a>.<\/p>\nUndercover research carried out at the 200,000-capacity Cheltenham Festival this year found samples with purity levels as high as 85 per cent, marking a dramatic shift from 13 years ago, when the average purity of cocaine in the UK sat at around 32 per cent.<\/p>\n
Experts have linked the rise to a rapidly changing market, with purer products becoming easier to access and in many cases the drug being cheaper than ever before.\u00a0A boom in production in South America has\u00a0contributed\u00a0to the increase in purity, with users\u00a0potentially unaware of the increased risk to their health.<\/p>\n
Drug science adviser Peter Cain tests drugs seized by police and\u00a0has\u00a0found that purity levels are\u00a0currently\u00a0around 80 per cent, a 5 per cent increase since COVID-19. \u201cIt\u2019s a buyer\u2019s market,\u201d he explained. \u201cUsers are getting a stronger product and\u00a0they\u2019re\u00a0paying less, and this is at a time everyone else is paying more for beer and other things.\u201d<\/p>\n
As of 2023, the UK\u00a0had the highest rate of\u00a0cocaine consumer in Europe, with government figures from wastewater showing consumption of the drug in England having risen by a quarter in the past five years.<\/p>\n
According to the National Crime Agency, the increase in consumption has been\u00a0fuelled\u00a0in part by record levels of production in South America. They warn that an unprecedented global supply has driven wholesale prices to historic lows, allowing\u00a0organised\u00a0crime groups to distribute stronger cocaine more widely.<\/p>\n
Cocaine can\u00a0increase the risk of\u00a0heart attacks,\u00a0strokes\u00a0and seizures,\u00a0while\u00a0mixing the drug with alcohol can further increase the risk of an overdose.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n