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Cocaine use and a host of problems associated with the drug have been declining steadily in the United States in recent years – with at least a 40 percent drop in people using cocaine since 2006.
U.S. drug use: Cocaine in steady decline
“I’ve never seen such a rapid decline for such an addictive drug,” says Peter Reuter, a public-policy professor and drug-economy expert at the University of Maryland in College Park.
Some supply-side factors, as well as demand-side issues, have contributed to the downward trend, according to medical, academic, and drug-policy experts.
The United States has experienced a significant decline in cocaine use in recent years.
From 2006 to 2011, the number of cocaine users in the U.S. declined 40%, according to the White House’s Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP).
Seven years ago, there were 2.4 million cocaine users in the U.S. By 2011, that number had fallen to 1.4 million.
The country also witnessed a drop in the number of first-time users of the drug (from one million in 2002 to 670,000 in 2011). The number of cocaine addicts also fell, from 1.7 million in 2006 to 800,000 in 2011.
“I’ve never seen such a rapid decline for such an addictive drug,” Peter Reuter, a public-policy professor and drug-economy expert at the University of Maryland in College Park, told The Christian Science Monitor.
Is there any evidence that the "war on drugs" is responsible for the decline in use? Seeing how obnoxious people act when they use cocaine was enough evidence for me to know that I never ever wanted to try it. The "war on drugs" was never really a factor.
Legality of a substance never had any effect whatsoever on an addict. Addicts do not have a choice of whether they use or not. The drug takes the choice. If they do not feed the addiction they experience severe physical pain from withdrawal. Take that from someone who has been there.
There are people who use cocaine casually, just like the cigarette smokers who only smoke at parties or when they drink, and never develop a pattern of usage that leads to addiction. Those who are addicts and not using cocaine have either stepped up to a stronger drug or they have found a lower cost substitute, maybe crack or meth.
All the legislation you can pass will have no impact on usage. The War on Drugs is a boondoggle that has cost America trillions of dollars for agents to ride around in new cars and play with James Bond style toys, but the DEA has never accomplished a damned thing, nor will they ever.
Legality of a substance never had any effect whatsoever on an addict. Addicts do not have a choice of whether they use or not. The drug takes the choice. If they do not feed the addiction they experience severe physical pain from withdrawal. Take that from someone who has been there.
There are people who use cocaine casually, just like the cigarette smokers who only smoke at parties or when they drink, and never develop a pattern of usage that leads to addiction. Those who are addicts and not using cocaine have either stepped up to a stronger drug or they have found a lower cost substitute, maybe crack or meth.
All the legislation you can pass will have no impact on usage. The War on Drugs is a boondoggle that has cost America trillions of dollars for agents to ride around in new cars and play with James Bond style toys, but the DEA has never accomplished a damned thing, nor will they ever.
Well they do accomplish some things. Like selling drugs.
Legality of a substance never had any effect whatsoever on an addict. Addicts do not have a choice of whether they use or not. The drug takes the choice. If they do not feed the addiction they experience severe physical pain from withdrawal. Take that from someone who has been there.
There are people who use cocaine casually, just like the cigarette smokers who only smoke at parties or when they drink, and never develop a pattern of usage that leads to addiction. Those who are addicts and not using cocaine have either stepped up to a stronger drug or they have found a lower cost substitute, maybe crack or meth.
All the legislation you can pass will have no impact on usage. The War on Drugs is a boondoggle that has cost America trillions of dollars for agents to ride around in new cars and play with James Bond style toys, but the DEA has never accomplished a damned thing, nor will they ever.
Could it be that less people are picking up the habit because supply is down?
The study says: A US-Colombian partnership has contributed to a 44 percent drop in the capacity for pure cocaine production in the Andean region since 2001, according to July’s annual estimate by the White House’s Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP). In addition, interceptions along trafficking routes by the Coast Guard and Defense Department have decreased the amount of cocaine entering the country, the ONDCP reports.
the reasons an illegal drug has a decline in usage are many, so no one reason can be pointed to. heroin went through its decline a couple of decades ago, it lost ground to cocaine in fact.
Drop in cocaine, rise in meth. Also apparently heroin is struggling back up.
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