This Tuesday, December 3, 2024, the prefecture of Reunion and the Regional Health Agency launched a vast prevention campaign “Cocaine lais spa li trap a ou”. A campaign limited to the end-of-year holiday period and to certain locations. Very insufficient, while cocaine affects all walks of life and increasingly young people in Reunion Island and is becoming completely commonplace (Photo: sly/www.imazpress.com)
The prefecture puts forward the argument that “the holidays can be conducive to risky consumption”.
“This does not mean that we forget other environments,” says Frédéric Sautron, sub-prefect of La Réunion. Listen.
– Cocaine, from partying to uncontrollable addiction –
Cocaine circulates at any time, any week, any time of year, not just during festive evenings.
Jonathan is 36 years old. Currently hospitalized in the addiction department of the CHU Nord, it was six years ago that the Reunionese plunged into cocaine. If he started in the evening, it was in his room, alone, that he consumed up to 5 grams per day.
For him, “we should carry out a shock campaign to explain life with cocaine”. “Here, young people are smoking more and more, it’s falling apart and it’s not good.”
The director of the Regional Health Agency himself declared this on September 12, 2024. “We have gone from festive consumption to daily consumption” worries the ARS, noting that the phenomenon also affects people “who do not have much financial means”.
“Cocaine and crack are plaguing many neighborhoods on the island,” calls out Doctor David Mété.
“What was exceptional before has become common,” adds the addictologist.
– A campaign far from sufficient –
Certainly a television campaign with prevention spots on the dangers associated with cocaine consumption and posters in festive environments – only until January 8, 2025 – is good, but it is unfortunately far from sufficient.
“This campaign is of course insufficient but it has the merit of existing,” emphasizes Doctor David Mété, head of the addiction department at CHU Nord. “There was a rapid reaction from the authorities to take stock of the situation.”
He says, “the campaign is only one element in a set of measures to try to stem this phenomenon”. Listen.
Frédéric Sautron, sub-prefect, concedes that “it is certainly a one-off campaign but there are permanent actions by state services”.
“The prefect has made this desire to want to fight against this a hobby horse because Reunion society is threatened by this scourge,” he adds. Listen.
– Cocaine addiction: an underestimated phenomenon –
The effects of cocaine are strong and do not last very long.
The desire is strong to start again and a dependence can set in quickly, sometimes from the first dose or in the context of occasional consumption.
This is even more true when it comes to crack, which is almost immediately addictive.
A large proportion of cocaine users underestimate their dependence on the product and do not consider themselves addicted. Users therefore make little use of hospital addiction services or addiction care, support and prevention centers (CSAPA), which leads to delays in treatment.
Cocaine consumption can lead to numerous severe complications which can lead to death: neurological disorders (stroke), cardiological or vascular disorders (infarction), major respiratory distress, psychiatric decompensation, etc.
The somatic effects associated with taking cocaine can appear from the first dose or even with occasional use.
Cocaine consumption patterns will also promote the spread of infectious diseases. In fact, users will often share equipment for “snorting” cocaine (bank notes, bank cards, straws, etc.) with a significant risk of transmission of certain diseases: HIV, hepatitis, etc.
Furthermore, cocaine consumption requires a significant budget and the loss of control over consumption can quickly push some users towards insecurity and social isolation.
Read also – Addictions: coke consumption explodes in Reunion
– Cocaine: a health and societal issue in Reunion –
It should be remembered that in Reunion Island, in 2024, more than 200 people will have been admitted to the island’s addiction services for cocaine use, an increase of 20% in three years.
On average, 5% of people supported by addiction services are there for cocaine use (main reason for support or secondary use)
More than 30 patients monitored for crack use in 2024 (0 in 2022).
There is also an 85% increase in cocaine seizures between 2022 and 2024.
“The State is not remaining inactive. We have net operations, more than 50 kilos of cocaine seized by the end of the year at customs,” notes the sub-prefect.
If consumption increases, the arrival of these products in Reunion also raises questions. The figures indicate an increase in both seizures of narcotics and offenses against narcotics legislation in recent years, particularly for cocaine.
Supply methods in Reunion are also changing with products arriving mainly by post but also more and more frequently via air passengers who transport cocaine on the body or in ingested eggs.
Detentions in the island’s prisons of drug dealers, real or supposed, are also increasing sharply. It’s no longer a fashion, it’s a real societal change.
ma.m/www.imazpress.com/[email protected]
Drugs, Cocaine, Addictions, Campaigns, Prefecture
