Blood on their hands: The decadent drug users who don’t care about dark origins
The drug trail of misery to the UK – where cocaine use is the highest in Europe – involves environmental devastation, deadly violence, high-level corruption and crime
At a smart dinner party, where cocaine is passed around like canapes, the wealthy guests likely do not think about the class A drug’s dark origins.
Behind these decadent suburban scenes are the end result of a supply chain that involves environmental devastation, violence, high-level corruption and crimes including gang warfare, sex trafficking and terrorism.
The global trail of devastation that cocaine leaves in its wake is why London Mayor Sadiq Khan last year linked rising violence on the city’s streets to middle-class drug consumption.
And it is why Metropolitan Police Commissioner Cressida Dick told middle-class drug users that they had “blood on their hands”.
Police Federation deputy treasurer Simon Kempton heaped blame on wealthy middle class people for the boom in class A drug sales.
He said: “If you look at why there is a market for cocaine from South America it is because people who can afford it are buying it and fuelling the problem.
“Street-level users are a problem because they steal to fund their habit. But on their own they will not support an organised-crime group.
“The big market is people with money to spend and they are often oblivious to the misery they cause because it is not on their doorstep.
“Middle-class drug users do not come across the radar of police because they are consuming it behind closed doors. There’s a lack of personal responsibility.”
Far from a victimless crime, taking cocaine leaves bloody footsteps and even death from the streets in our town and across the world.
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