A grieving sister has spoken of her regret after her 24-year-old sibling died from a cocaine-induced heart attack. Stacey Jordan's sister, Lucy White, a student from Bristol, was introduced to the drug by their mother, a long-term user. Stacey had helped Lucy get clean, but she relapsed months before her death in summer 2018.
When Stacey arrived at the hospital, Lucy was almost unrecognisable. 'I should have been more strict,' she said 18 months on. 'She was hiding from me. Could I see it? Maybe not. Did I want to see it? That's maybe the question.'
NHS Digital figures compiled for the BBC show a 76% increase in hospital admissions caused by cocaine since 2014-15, with a 70% rise in admissions for mental disorders linked to the drug. People aged 30-39 have seen the largest increase in admissions.
Lewis, a 25-year-old from the Midlands, also suffered a heart attack after a line of cocaine. He recovered but his habit, which once cost him £200-300 a week, has reduced. 'It wasn't making me happy at all,' he said. 'It's the worst paranoia I've had in my life.'
Drugs worker Eddie Buggy of Addaction in Hamilton, Lanarkshire, noted cocaine is now easier to buy than alcohol, with dealers using digital platforms like Snapchat and WhatsApp. The drug's purity and availability have driven record deaths, tripling in Scotland and doubling in England and Wales since 2015.
Hamilton Academical Football Club has taken a leading role in warning teenagers, with chief executive Colin McGowan, a former addict, setting up an anti-addiction charity. Former footballer Colin McNair, whose career ended after cocaine use, told pupils: 'When you are caught up in addiction, your choices are taken from you.'
