Cocaine use and overdose deaths associated with this drug have continued to grow in the United States. And alarmingly so.
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The above emerges from two new official studies that were known to this newspaper and that have just been published.
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On the one hand, the National Survey on Drug Use and Health Year 2022 (NSDUH, according to its acronym in English), carried out every year by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration (SAMHSA).
And on the other, the latest data update from the National Center for Health Statistics, which depends on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
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According to this latest report, which includes information collected until October of this year, In recent months (counted up to May), in the last 12 months almost 30,000 people have died in the country due to cocaine use or mixing this drug with other substances..
The figure is almost 20 percent higher than that reported in May 2022, when some 26,000 deaths were recorded. But the most relevant thing about the data is its evolution over the last 8 years.
In January 2015, for example, the number of deaths from this type of overdose totaled 5,587 people. Since then, the curve has been growing steadily over the years.
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To put it another way, From that date until now, overdose deaths that the United States attributes to cocaine have grown by more than 500 percent..
In large part, the rise is due to the appearance on the market of fentanyl, a powerful opioid that is often lethal and often ends up mixed with other drugs.
The newspaper New York TimesIn fact, it recently published an extensive report dedicated to what the CDC has dubbed the consumption of “polysubstances.”
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According to the report, unlike other drug epidemics in the United States that were dominated by the rise in the consumption of a substance such as crack, cocaine, methamphetamines or opioids, the current one is characterized by the use and addiction to multiple substances.
“Over the past three years, studies of people addicted to opioids (a population estimated in the millions) have consistently shown that between 70 and 80 percent also use other illicit substances, a change that is hampering treatment efforts and confusing state, local and state governments. federal policies,” said this newspaper.
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That’s why, According to Dr. Cara Polania, from the University of Michigan School of Medicine, the current situation is no longer an opioid epidemic but an “addiction crisis.”.
One of the things that has the authorities most concerned is the parallel growth in the consumption of stimulants such as cocaine and methamphetamine.
In the case of the latter, which had its peak in the late 1990s but had fallen since then, The appearance on the market of a “super methamphetamine” so pure that it can even be inhaled has been detected.
For doctors and addiction specialists who evaluate this phenomenon, the use of stimulants is a challenge since although effective treatments have been developed to deal with overdoses and addictions to opioids (such as methadone and Narcan), there are no products similar to help those addicted to these other substances or those who use them in combination.
In fact, last month the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued draft guidelines for the development of new therapies for stimulant use disorders “that are needed to address gaps that exist in the treatment”.
The case of stimulants, particularly cocaine, is also raising alarm bells.
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According to the SAMSHA survey, In 2022, at least 5,274,000 Americans or 1.9 percent of the population said they had used this substance throughout the year.
The figure represents a 10 percent increase compared to 2021, when 4,760,000 or (1.7 percent of the population) answered the same.
To put these data in context, the last peak of cocaine use in the United States occurred between 2002 and 2006 when approximately 2.5 percent of the population reported having used the substance over the previous 12 months.
Starting in 2007, the figure began to decrease: 2.1 percent that year, then 1.9 percent average in 2008 and 2009 and from there to a value that ranged between 1.4 percent and 1.5 percent between 2010 and 2015.
But since then it has gradually risen to the 1.9 percent that is now recorded and which is the highest number reported in 15 years.
Although the new SAMSHA data are not yet reckless, they do show that, at least, cocaine consumption in the country has remained stable for more than a decade but with an upward trend.
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Likewise, it coincides with an increase in coca production in Colombia, where record figures were recorded last year (more than 330,000 hectares cultivated according to the UN), and which could trigger its use in the US if the market is flooded. and lower the price.
The 2022 SAMSHA national survey also brings other data that is alarming.
According to this, In the United States, 17.3 percent of the population over 12 years of age or 48 million people reported having a disorder or addiction due to drug or alcohol use..
Two million more than those reported in 2021 (46 million) and the highest figure in more than a decade (since there have been this type of reports).
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In general terms, there were also considerable increases in the number of people who consumed some type of drugs in the previous months.
According to SAMSHA, nearly 71 million people, or 21 percent of the population, admitted to having used drugs in this period, compared to 62 million who admitted the same in 2021.
Over the past three years, studies of people addicted to opioids have consistently shown that 70 to 80 percent also use other illicit substances.
In other words, an increase of almost 15 percent in just one year.
Among all drugs, marijuana was by far the most prevalent and also the one that saw the sharpest increase in its use: from 53 million users in 2021 to almost 62 million in 2022 (an approximately 16 percent increase).
In fact, cannabis, along with cocaine and hallucinogens, were the only three drugs that showed significant increases compared to the previous year.
All others such as opioids, crack, heroin, LSD, benzodiazepines, inhalants, etc. remained stable or with slight reductions.
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“This data reinforces the urgency of President Biden’s call to action: with more than 48 million Americans struggling with substance use disorder, Congress must step up and provide the funding the president is requesting to expand essential, life-saving services.” and crack down on illicit drug trafficking. This is not a red-state or blue-state problem: As the data shows, there are tens of millions of Americans in every state in the country affected by this public health crisis.“said Dr. Rahul Gupta, Director of Drug Policy at the White House, referring to this drama that American society is suffering.
SERGIO GÓMEZ MASERI
EL TIEMPO correspondent
Washington
On Twitter @sergom68
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