Consumption of Psychotropic Substances in Iceland Is on the Rise
“Often these are people who are employed and perhaps have a business and are very busy and are just about to lose everything because of their consumption. It is expensive and also requires more and more and this becomes a great suffering for the individual and his family, of course.” This is what Valgerður Rúnarsdóttir, director of medical services at SÁÁ, says about the diverse group who seek help for cocaine addiction.
Police have seized about 200 kilograms of cocaine in just six months. That is almost twice as much as all of last year and it is clear that the demand for the substance is high in this country.
“Of course, it is not good if the attitude towards this substance is that it is something other than what it is, which is just a very dangerous drug that has a great effect on the brain and can even cause psychotic symptoms. People can become aggressive and angry and this causes a lot of chaos. The aftereffects are exactly the opposite, a lot of discomfort, fatigue and irritability so this is not a frivolous substance and also a drug and it is easy to get addicted to it,” Valgerður added on Sýn’s evening news.
“It is quite clear that there is a great demand and it has increased for cocaine. We have seen an increase in its consumption among those seeking treatment, just steadily and steadily since the turn of the century, but there was a big increase there just before the crash. Then it subsided and then there was an even greater increase again and when COVID-19 came, it subsided again but now we are on the rise again as we see this in our numbers.”
Paying 25 Thousand Krónur per Gram
If we look at the part of users who seek help for addiction at SÁÁ, most of them are people between the ages of 20 and 45, according to Valgerður.
“In that age group, about 40 percent of all those who come to us have a cocaine addiction, usually along with alcohol addiction and other substances.”
It has been reported that people often have to pay between 20 and 25 thousand krónur ($160–200) for a gram of cocaine. Despite this, there seems to be a huge demand for the substance, which some people use several times a week.
“This is a very powerful drug and has a huge effect on the brain, stimulants such as amphetamines, some medications that are used and MDMA.
These are all stimulant drugs and there has always been a considerable amount of such consumption in Iceland, but cocaine seems to take up a larger space when times are good,” says Valgerður. Information on cocaine use has also been collected through measurements of sewage and in consumption surveys conducted by the Director of Health.
Cocaine use not only affects the individual but also the society around them.
“People who are heavily consuming this type of substance cannot provide for themselves in the long run or continue working or being part of a family, little by little it starts to deteriorate and people then have to seek help. It is no longer part of normal society when consumption has become heavy and this naturally has a high cost, just like all other drugs and alcohol,” says Valgerður Rúnarsdóttir, Director of Medicine at SÁÁ.
Source: Vísir (in Icelandic)