Lisa* is watching Scissor Sisters at a festival in the Lake District, a can of cider in hand, dancing along to the music on a sunny afternoon.
The 30-year-old has a few days off from her job as a veterinary nurse in Gateshead, where she lives with her fiance. She loves going to festivals, especially as “I love meeting new people,” she says.
She is confident and makes friends at the festival very easily. The reason for that? “I’m on a bit of coke,” she says.
It is a crime largely hidden in plain sight – and one many people would barely consider a crime. However, it could land her a maximum sentence of seven years in prison, though for a first offence it is more likely to be a police caution. But she’s unlikely to be caught, especially at a festival, where over the course of the weekend numerous people admit to the Guardian to taking cocaine – or trying to get hold of it – and are seen openly taking it.
By many estimates, use of the class A drug is soaring. Wastewater analysis suggests people in England consumed 123,000kg of cocaine in 2024-25, a rise of 26% since 2021. That’s equivalent to roughly 2.5bn lines of cocaine, at an estimated street value of almost £10bn.
Cocaine and crime
Cocaine is a powerful and addictive stimulant that causes euphoria, overconfidence, restlessness and paranoia. A Guardian investigation has found a 10% rise in recorded crimes where the drug was mentioned since 2019.
Research from wastewater samples in 2022 carried out by Imperial College London and released earlier this year found that cocaine use spiked during major sporting and music events, heatwaves and bank holidays.
Its reputation as a middle-class drug still stands, though it has become more available across different demographics, as prices have dropped year-on-year and reached “historically low levels” last year. That wider use brings wider problems. » | Robyn Vinter | Sunday, October 25, 2026
What a fine kettle of fish! What a state our politicians have reduced our country to! Our political leaders are incompetent and stupid. So often, they are bereft of all common sense and sound judgment! For years, they have waged an unrelenting war on cigarettes and smoking, and have been raising the price of cigarettes out of all proportion while drug use has been increasing. How ridiculous! How stupid!
I have said time and time and time again that the war on smoking is WRONG! Informing people of the health dangers of smoking is one thing, and encouraging people not to smoke is understandable, and even encouraging smokers to quit where and when possible is sensible. But hounding smokers, depriving them of ALL their RIGHTS to enjoy a smoke ANYWHERE in the PUBLIC SPACE is both FOOLISH and DANGEROUS.
Anybody who has just a modicum of understanding of human psychology, human behaviour, anyone who understands what motivates and drives humans to behave in a certain way would know ONE BASIC FACT: After a hard day’s work, after toiling, after the stress of earning a crust, people like to derive some pleasure from life, and each person has his/her own way of deriving that relaxation and pleasure. People are not ROBOTS!
In years gone by, when people were more sensible, they’d enjoy a drink and maybe a smoke. But as smoking has been all but OUTLAWED, it is now more than clear that people have been turning to recreational drugs instead. They have not given up smoking for a life of abstinence and optimum health; rather, they have adopted new habits which are altogether far, far more injurious to people’s health than smoking cigarettes ever was or could be. It should be remembered that cocaine is a mind-bending substance. A bent mind is capable of many nasty and dangerous things.
Largely, I blame politicians for this sad development. Self-evidently, they are far more highly paid than they are sensible or accomplished lawmakers!
Furthermore, so much for Rishi Sunak and Keir Starmer’s nonsensical and unworkable generational smoking ban! Those incompetent politicians should hang their heads in shame! — © Mark Alexander
ALSO READ:
Cocaine-linked crimes on the rise in Britain as consumption surges: Exclusive: Wastewater analysis in England suggests people took roughly 2.5bn lines of drug in one year »
What is pink cocaine? The party drug reportedly taken by Liam Payne: The drug cocktail that can contain ketamine, ecstasy, meth and crack has grown in popularity in recent years »
