FEARS AS PRICE OF COCAINE FALLS SHARPLY

The price of cocaine in the State has fallen sharply, making it cheaper
than ecstasy. This is earning it a new following of young, inexperienced
recreational drug-users, Garda National Drug Unit sources warned yesterday.

Once the drug favoured by wealthier drug-users because of its high price,
lines of cocaine are now being sold in Dublin for pounds 10 each.

This compares to pounds 20 for the most potent "jumbo" ecstasy tablet, or
pounds 10 to pounds 15 for the "mitsubishi" ecstasy tablet, both of which
are used by young drug-users.

The price of cocaine has fallen globally as a result of a big harvest of
the drug in 1998, which has resulted in a glut. The Garda National Drug
Unit now fears the low prices may enable cocaine to get a foothold in the
State.

"A lot of people are switching to cocaine because of fears about ecstasy
and the fact that the Celtic tiger has put more money in people's pockets,"
the Garda source said.

Gardai and Customs officers have had some success in disrupting cocaine
supplies, the highlight being the seizure of pounds 50 million worth of the
drug on board a catamaran in Kinsale, Co Cork, last September.

Six major hauls in Dublin and Cork so far this year have yielded pounds
370,000 worth of the drug.

The director of the Rutland Centre addiction treatment facility, Ms Maura
Russell, said people who were switching from ecstasy to cocaine in the
belief that it was safer were mistaken.

As well as running the risk of heart and kidney failure and drug-induced
psychosis, cocaine-users also faced the risk that the drug may be "cut"
with contaminants.