SURGE IN USE OF COCAINE IS STING IN TAIL OF THE TIGER

The Celtic Tiger is driving a massive surge in the use of cocaine, with a
thirty-fold increase in the volume of the drug seized last year.

According to senior ranking detectives, the country's changing drugs culture
has also seen users switch from ecstasy to amphetamines and speed because of
fears about their health.

Cocaine seizures increased from just 11 kilograms in 1997 to more than 333kg
from 176 hauls last year, according to comparisons between provisional
figures from the Forensic Science Laboratory at garda headquarters.

A senior garda attributed the huge growth in accessibility of what was once
considered as a luxury drug to the increase in the country's wealth in
recent years.

"People have more money in their pockets, therefore they are going to spend
it on these kind of substances. The economic climate is bound to be a major
reason why so much more cocaine is going around the streets of Ireland," he
said.

Cocaine is a controlled powdered drug, more commonly associated with
celebrity substance abuse than with regular use by ordinary citizens. It
gives an effect of laid-back euphoria, rather than the high-energy levels
induced by ecstasy, which appears to be waning in popularity.

The senior garda said users of leisure drugs are steering away from the
mostly MDMA-based chemical tablets, in favour of other substances they
believe to be safer. This is evidenced by increased seizures of
amphetamines, mostly in the powder form of speed.

"The number of speed hauls being made have spiralled in the last 18 months,
as ecstasy users become afraid of the tablets' effects. People are worried
that it has serious psychological effects and can lead to suicide as people
come down from the high that it induces," the detective said.

"While the demand for E tablets will continue, the increase in popularity of
the alternative is clear right across the country as people are worried
about the health effects of ecstasy," he added.

There were 747 amphetamine seizures in 1998, compared to just 460 the year
before, although the volume was down on 1997.

Jim Donovan, director of the garda forensics laboratory, said the number of
seizures of all controlled drugs in 1999 is already up by about 450 on the
same period last year.

He said amphetamine hauls were probably increasing faster than other drugs.
More than 4,700 seizures yielded 2,157kg of cannabis resin last year,
compared to 1,247kg of the drug in 1997, while gardai brought in more than
38kg of heroin during 1,012 seizures during 1998.