Children in East London Using Cheap Cocaine

Hi out there

Things are getting quite rough on our streets in the east ends. It has emerged that children as young as 15 are using cocaine.

Last month a report released by a UK charity Drugscope showed that the drug is now more easily available. It said that in many areas dealers are offering two grades of cocaine to buyers, effectively dividing their sales into ‘economy’ and ‘luxury’ cocaine, putting it in reach of more – and younger – users.

I spoke to Mike, who’s a member of a Narcotics Anonymous, a group of recovering addicts who meet regularly to help each other stay clean. The group operates like Alcoholics Anonymous. Mike also works with a drug charity project in Hackney.

He says the problem is big in east London too, and that before, cocaine was an expensive drug people in the West End were using. But now that it is cheaper, folks in East London can afford it. He added that it was a problem also affecting young people, including black girls.

This was spooky for me, because I see a lot of young people in the buses or at the malls, and they look so full of life and have a great future ahead of them. But it is sad to think that some of them are caught up in cocaine.

Sad musings.

Later folks!