According to a new report from Public Health Wales (PHW) titled 'The Annual Profile of Substance Misuse in Wales,' there has been a 114% rise in cocaine-related hospital admissions in Wales in the last 5 years. This is an alarming observation considering the decrease in overall rate of hospital admissions for illicit drugs.
The trend has been seen across all age groups from young adults to the elderly. According to Josie Smith, Head of the Substance Misuse Programme at PHW, this spike in hospitalisations could be possibly attributed to increased availability and purity levels of cocaine, along with the concomitant use of alcohol and other drugs with cocaine. She calls for greater emphasis on early identification, harm reduction and treatment strategies related to stimulant use.
Other findings from the report indicate a 2.4-fold higher rate of hospital admissions for alcohol-specific conditions than admissions for illicit drug use. There was a 7% rise in alcohol-related deaths in 2017 compared to the previous year.
Apart from Wales, this rise in cocaine-related hospital admissions has also been observed in other parts of the United Kingdom and also across Europe.
