Between 2012 and 2022, in the emergency room we received patients because of cocaine 23,335 times. That’s what reveals the latest report from the French Observatory of Drugs and Addictive Tendencies (OFDT), which notes a “sharp increase” in cocaine consumption.
Cocaine seems “democratized” according to this recent report, which points to the diversity of consumer profiles, wider than before. The entire period 2000-2022 is studied, and since 2010, the increase in consumption of this substance is flagrant, leading to many visits to the emergency room, three times more over the last twelve years than before.
65% consult for poisoning
In the population that comes for treatment after taking narcotics, we notice that it is essentially men, 75%, whose median age is 32. They come to consult for various reasons, the main one being poisoning, in 65% of cases. But dependence and withdrawal are also reasons, in 13% and 7.5% of cases respectively.
But cocaine use is associated very often to other products, such as alcohol, also responsible for poisoning in 33% of cases, but also to benzodiazepines, cannabis or even opioids. Patients consult because they suffer from various complications related to consumption, such as heart problems or psychiatric manifestations.
If there are more visits to the emergency room, it is because the cocaine that has been circulating for ten years is richer in active principle and in synthetic products to cut it. Between 2010 and 2022, the number of calls and chats on this subject, to the Drugs info service device increased from 2,133 to 6,447.
As a reminder, the contact is www.drogues-info-service.fr or by telephone on 0 800 23 13 13, 7 days a week, from 8 a.m. to 2 a.m., anonymous and free call from a landline or a cell phone.
Sources: Public Health France, March 2023.
