Pure cocaine tops the hard narcotics sales list
Cocaine is now the most widespread hard drug in Denmark’s cities. Furthermore, the drug’s purity has increased markedly. This is shown by a survey carried out by The Department of Forensic Medicine at Aarhus University.
Cocaine is the preferred drug when it comes to the purchase and sale of hard drugs at street level in Denmark. This is shown by a survey carried out by the three forensic chemistry departments in Denmark and processed by the Department of Forensic Medicine at Aarhus University. The survey results will be published in The Danish Health and Medicines Authority's annual narcotics report, which is available on 17 November.
The forensic chemical examinations are based on the drug seizures made by the police in Copenhagen, Aarhus, Odense, Aalborg and Esbjerg in 2015. In addition to being the most widespread hard narcotics in Denmark, the quality of the cocaine being dealt is also purer. The forensic chemical analysis in 2015 shows an average purity of 37 per cent, as against a 22 per cent average the previous year. This indicates that the drug is being diluted less before being put on sale on the street.
"The lesser adulteration of cocaine at street level indicates that larger quantities are now available. According to police statistics the number of cocaine seizures in 2015 were the highest in the past 16 years," says Christian Lindholst, department head at the Department of Forensic Medicine at Aarhus University.
According to Christian Lindholst, the analyses also uncover regional differences in the quality of the cocaine. For example, cocaine seized in Copenhagen is of better quality than cocaine seized in Aalborg.
The most recent demographic study from 2013 (young people and adults) and 2015 (ninth grade school pupils) does not show signs of an increased cocaine consumption. (The Danish Health and Medicines Authority (DHMA) annual report)
However, the number of cocaine poisonings has increased (DHMA's annual report).
Facts
The Danish Health and Medicines Authority's annual report, The drug situation in Denmark 2016
Street-level narcotics 2015 (The street-level report) (in Danish)
Further information
Department Head Christian Lindholst
Department of Forensic Medicine, Aarhus University
Tel. (+45) 8716 8331/2093 9223
cl@forens.au.dk
Senior Consultant Kari Grasaasen
Danish Health and Medicines Authority
Tel. (+45) 7222 7757
kag@sst.dk