The bass pumps, and even though the party has been running for hours, your energy level is high. You just want the party never to end. Only one more path. Then you get the last one. Perhaps this sounds like a typical weekend party for you. Perhaps you can not recognize the pattern at all. No matter how your own reality looks, the scenario has become more and more common in Danish nightlife. Cocaine has become far more normal than before, and it is clearly felt in the country's treatment centers.

Cocaine has taken the province

" In the past, cocaine was reserved for the jetzets from the big cities, it was expensive and hard to get unless you lived in the big cities, " says Jan Meincke, founder of the Tjele Abuse Center, helping young cocaine dependents at their centers throughout the country . He continues: " This picture has changed through recent years where cocaine is available throughout the country, both in the big cities and in the province it is now easy to get cocaine in the nightlife. At the same time it has become cheap where a gram of cocaine costs some 1500, - a year ago, it typically costs no more than 500-600. Therefore, much more - and especially young people - now afford to buy the white powder when they're partying or going to town ".

While cocaine has become cheaper and easier accessible, the cocaine you buy on the street has also been significantly stronger in recent years. In the Institute of Forensic Medicine, which continuously analyzes the seizure cocaine, it has been found that the purity of cocaine has been 3-fold over the last 2 years - from 20% to 55%.

"Cocaine has today become a very potent substance, which makes it extremely addictive, and the increased purity also gives an increased risk of poisoning. The difference between the amount of cocaine that produces the desired substance and the amount of overdose that causes poisoning is unfortunately not very high, and with the very strong cocaine in circulation it can be difficult to control how much cocaine man takes - especially when most people combine cocaine with alcohol, " says Jan Meincke.

Cocaine and alcohol - a dangerous cocktail

It is especially the young people who have taken cocaine, and although other synthetic drugs such as ecstasy, including MDMA, and amphetamine are also popular, it is the cocaine that is the young between 18-35 years of age. However, the cocaine is rarely consumed alone. By far the majority combine the cocaine with alcohol, which gives a very violent rus, easily losing its judgment and ending in fights, drunk driving, infidelity and situations where you are unable to fit properly on yourself.

When is it an abuse?

It may be difficult to realize when intake of cocaine is a relatively innocent supplement to a fun night in the city and when it develops into a real abuse.

Initially, most people are able to maintain a working day while taking cocaine 2-3 times a week, and it can therefore be difficult to see consumption as an abuse. But cocaine is one of the most addictive substances, and the major problem is that addiction sets in long before you are aware that you have become addicted. This means that many cocaine addicts have the feeling of "controlling it" even if they no longer have the ability to stop even if they want to.

The ability to fit the school and work makes it not at all feel like an abuse, though it may be, "adds Jan Meincke.

When the party is over

" Once you have become addicted to the cocaine, it can be difficult to break out, " says Jan Meincke. "The cocaine abusers we encounter in treatment usually have a day-to-day breakdown. Many are fired from their jobs or dropped out of their education, have been divorced from their partner and have problems with their family, many have an irreversible debt and have begun to commit themselves in criminal environments. That's why it's so important that these young people get the right help - and as early as possible - so they can get back on track and get a good life. "