A White Christmas?

FOR STUDENTS, 'Eat, Drink and be Merry' might well apply to any season of the year, but it's true that the festive period carries with it a special tradition of excess. Parties and nights out are the norm, but for more and more people alcohol isn't the only thing making them merry.

According to statistics released recently by the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction, Britain has one of the highest levels of cocaine abuse in Europe, with 4.7 percent of fifteen to 34-year-olds saying they had used the drug in the last twelve months. Cocaine now ranks as the second most popular illegal drug in the UK, second only to cannabis. You might wonder where students fit into all this, after all, the image of cash-strapped students seems fairly incongruent with the idea of users who will pay between £50 for a gram of good quality coke and £25 to £30 for a lower quality, but more affordable gram.

While previously cannabis use may have been more associated with the student population, due to its ready availability and relative cheapness, cannabis use among 16-24 year olds has fallen over the last year by 6.8 percent. The good news is that puts Britain behind countries like Spain, which also featured at the top of the table for cocaine abuse. But why are more and more young people in Britain opting for cocaine over other drugs?

Rose, a fourth year History student from Bristol, describes the readily available nature of the drug. "I'd say it was the most popular drug for about half of my friends. I thought everyone took MDMA and ecstasy, but it turns out everyone takes coke." But how can students afford to buy it? "The quality of pills is going down at the same time as the price of coke is going down. Maybe its just fashion, I mean, ecstasy is a very nineties thing."

It's true that the epoch of 'Pills 'n' Thrills and Bellyaches', where the clubbing scene of the early to mid-nineties was marked by the popularity of pills, ecstasy or MDMA, has given way to a more ambiguous age. Pete Doherty proved that you can nurse a serious crack problem and still produce a decent album (although turning up to gig dates seemed more challenging). Heroin abuse wasn't enough to stop Amy Winehouse from producing the critically acclaimed Back to Black album and likewise, thousands of cocaine users get up every morning, go about their daily lives, unaware that they might have a problem.

Earlier this month, the Manchester Evening News took testing kits to places around Manchester to test the toilets for traces of cocaine. While evidence of the drug was found on surfaces such as toilet seats and window sills in the toilets of Greater Manchester Police Headquarters, the Crown Court and the A&E department at the Manchester Royal Infirmary, only one bar of all those tested, Panacea, showed evidence that the drug had been used.

Speaking to the MEN newspaper in light of their investigation, Mark Gilman, Northwest Regional Manager of the national treatment agency for substance misuse gave his views on cocaine abuse. "Most powder cocaine users don't think they've got a problem. They don't see themselves as addicts because they don't identify with Big Issue sellers, it's more Kate Moss and Amy Winehouse to them."

We spoke to Ffion, the Manager of Sofa in Fallowfield, about whether she'd ever experienced any problems with the drug in her bar, particularly popular with students. "I've been manager here since April and I've never witnessed anything, we've never had any trouble with the police."

When asked about why more and more young people might be combining alcohol and coke on a night out, Ffion suggested it wasn't really a student issue. "From the people I know who've done it, they seem to have a lot of money, so it's not really students."

A recent study by the Home Office established a strong link between 'frequency of drunkenness' and drug use. 59 percent of eighteen to 24-year-old binge drinkers asked admitted to taking drugs, while people who get drunk at least once a week are three and a half times more likely to take illegal drugs. Cocaine and amphetamines are most commonly used alongside binge drinking. This is perhaps due to what many people see as the social aspect of these drugs. According to Talk to Frank, a drugs advisory service, "Taking cocaine makes users feel on top of the world...People taking it feel wide-awake, confident and on top of their game."

There is however a rather significant downside. "High doses can raise the body's temperature, cause convulsions and respiratory or heart failure...perfectly healthy, young people can have a fit or heart attack after taking too much coke."

Bev Craig, the Welfare Officer at the Students' Union, gave this advice: “We are all adults, responsible for our own decisions and their consequences. Remember, some drug use is illegal, so if you are going to use, use safely and in moderation.”