What if you lie about a cocaine habit? Like most doctors, if you choose to not answer the question or lie, I’ll just ignore it for now since you don’t want to talk about it, so that we can skip ahead to the part where we treat today’s short-term problem…until you’re back again.
Let’s talk health effects of cocaine use:
It’s not like you are alone. Who else is doing it? More now than ever before, including during the Celtic Tiger. It’s hard to get a good number, but we have seen a 50% increase in last year in people seeking treatment for cocaine addiction, which can give us some indication of the level of the problem. The average age of first use is 20 (which means half of those users were younger than 20). The data is that somewhere between 2.5% and 3.2% of 15 – 34 year olds are using cocaine.
What’s the harm?
1. Addiction –
2. Doubles the user’s risk of anxiety and depression
3. Stroke and heart attack: cocaine makes your blood vessels close up and squeeze down tight. If this happens in your heart or brain, blood can’t get through, causing your brain or heart to be deprived to blood and oxygen, the same as someone having a heart attack or stroke. (yes, oh yes, I’ve seen it.)
4. Cocaine can make your heart beat in funny rhythms, sometimes causing chest pain, unwell, or even sudden death.
5. “snorting” cocaine can cause holes in your nasal bone or even the thin bone that separates behind your nose from your brain.
6. panic attacks or paranoia
7. Delusions and hallucinations8. Make really, really bad decisions under the influence of cocaine – resulting in further serious harm from resulting injury or unsafe sex
Further harm?
You know that cocaine is not sold in your local health food shop or Tesco. It is not fair trade. It is not ethically sourced. Cocaine is supplied by criminal gangs, responsible for violence and death of our young people in our communities. When you purchase drugs, you are directly supporting this enterprise. These gangs cannot supply without demand. There is direct connection between a dead 17 year old and a line of cocaine shared in the night club toilet. I don’t blame the young teenage boys any more than the casual or habitual cocaine users when vulnerable or at-risk teens are lured with €1000/week cash jobs.
What else should you know?
Between 13 – 16% of your teenagers/young adults over 14 are doing cannabis, and a quarter of those report daily use. Of those who enter treatment for cannabis addiction, most reported starting at age 15. Wait, weren’t we talking cocaine? Yes. It is common for cocaine users to have started with cannabis. I don’t want to slander anyone, but as a rule, drug dealers are not always nice people and have a serious financial interest here in hooking teens and young adults on a pricey product. A recent survey in D15 found evidence drug use during school hours in 9 out of 10 schools surveyed.
Where is your teenage son right now? Right there on the couch next to you, so definitely not in any drug trouble? Maybe. Maybe not. Drug sales are now commonly organised using various social media applications.
What can you do?
1. You need to have the discussion with your teen, starting before age 14. Honestly. Get information you can trust. [links provided end of this post]
2. If you abuse drugs or alcohol yourself, consider getting help. Not only for all the obvious reasons, but your teen is more likely to abuse drugs or alcohol if you do so yourself.
https://spunout.ie/health/category/drugs
https://www.drugs.ie/drugs_info/for_parents_carers/
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