“Cocaine is becoming a universal drug,” warns an addictologist

“Cocaine is becoming a universal drug”, alert Wednesday June 27 on franceinfo Bertrand Lebeau Leibovici, addictologist doctor specializing in reducing the risks linked to drug addiction. He reacts to the study by the French Observatory of Drugs and Addictive Tendencies (OFDT) published Wednesday June 26 which indicates that cocaine consumption is exploding in France, where one in ten adults has already taken it at least once in their lifetime. life.

“It is an absolutely considerable increase in supply which meets demandexplains the doctor. It first developed widely in North America and now it is reaching Europe very widely.” He claims that cocaine is today “the second most consumed illicit drug, far after cannabis”. The doctor speaks of a “considerable mythology surrounding cocaine” which he describes as “drug champagne”of “drugs of famous people and rich people”.

Regarding the effects, “generally speaking, stimulants make the feeling of fatigue and hunger disappear”they give “a feeling of physical and intellectual power”. “To sum upthe doctor continues, you could say that these are drugs that are made for partying, possibly for sex and work.” However, Bertrand Lebeau Leibovici warns of the fact that “The risks of cocaine are primarily linked to age” of the person taking it: “It’s not the same thing to take it at 20 years old and at 60 years old, because the main complications are cardiac or neurological”.

About the consumer profile, “not everyone is addicted” to this drug. “There are people who consume it occasionally and who don’t encounter many problems”. People who come to see health professionals “are people who encounter problems” with their consumption.

Bertrand Lebeau Leibovici underlines the fact that there is no replacement treatment with stimulants and that therefore “Taking care of someone who is seriously addicted to cocaine is very difficult work because we don’t have any medication that is effective in helping to reduce this obsessive craving for cocaine.” “It is said that cocaine does not cause physical dependence but it causes an extremely powerful psychological dependence. All addictologists will tell you the same thing: it is complicated to take care of someone who has become heavily dependent on stimulants”. To help patients, addictologists therefore work “about why they use the drug and trying to get them to stop associating with people who use cocaine”.