Cocaine use has risen markedly in France over the past ten years, with a recent acceleration, the public health agency reported Monday, based on data from emergency room visits.
“These results highlight a strong and continuous increase over the period 2010-2022, regardless of the region”, summarizes Public Health France, in a press release accompanying the publication of the updated figures.
According to the latter, between 2010 and 2022 there have been 23,335 visits to the emergency room related to cocaine use. This includes the different forms of the drug: powder, crack…
mainly men
Behind this global figure, the health authorities point out above all that these passages have become more and more frequent. “After a period of relative stabilization between 2018 and 2021, the data shows a particularly strong increase between 2021 and 2022,” notes Public Health France.
“The passages referred mainly to men (75%) and the median age was 32 years, which corresponds to the profiles that tend to be more consumers within the general population,” the agency specifies.
To explain the progression of these ER visits, Public Health France gives as its leading hypothesis a general increase in cocaine use.
However, he believes that cases of intoxication could also become more frequent due to the circulation of more concentrated forms of cocaine.
It also evokes “the appearance of new synthetic products (NPS) more powerful and toxic than the molecule whose effects they mimic.”
Source: BFM TV
