Cocaine use in nightlife in Slovenia and Italy

According to the 2010 annual report on the state of the drugs problem in Europe published by the EMCDDA, seizures of cocaine as well as cocaine use in Europe have increased in the last decade. Cocaine is the second most commonly used illicit drug in Europe after marijuana (EMCDDA, 2010). Due to its growing popularity and decreasing price, traditional perceptions about cocaine users and the ways in which it is consumed no longer hold true. It is no longer the case that cocaine use is limited to wealthy social classes or elites only; it has spread to include a number of different groups of users with varying social statuses. While only a few years ago, the typical cocaine user was a young and successful member of the middle class and the main emphasis was on the rising popularity of cocaine in the nightlife context, today user groups include regular pub patrons, working-class members and marginalized groups of users who consume cocaine only or combine it with other opiates. Thus, in the last decade, cocaine use has perforated highly discrepant target groups, becoming increasingly popular throughout the EU due to the falling price and relatively predictable effects. In Great Britain, which is regarded as a relevant forerunner of emerging trends in the nightlife, a blurring of the lines between cocaine usage in clubs and discotheques on the one hand and pubs on the other as well as between usage in the middle class and the working class has been noticed (Sampson, 2007). There are no notable discrepancies in cocaine usage with regard to gender, normalization has begun to take hold, and the drug is perceived to be fuelling Britain’s drinking culture (ibid.). Users discriminate between powder cocaine on the one hand and heroin and crack on the other and, in terms of effects, lump cocaine in with marijuana and ecstasy. Most users do not avail themselves of support programs or come into conflict with the law, therefore, cocaine use in recreational settings and bars remains difficult to study (ibid.)