NSW Health Issues Grim Warning About Cocaine After Two People Died

New South Wales Health has issued a grim warning about people wanting to engage in some nose beers this weekend (or any day for that matter).

Two people have already died from dodgy cocaine batches and nine others have been sent to hospital with symptoms of an opioid overdose.

It's believe suppliers have been lacing the white stuff with opioids and it's causing havoc across the state.

NSW Poisons Information Centre medical director Darren Roberts said they have been seeing this happen over the space of two months.

"An opioid overdose could quickly result from snorting a single line," he said. "It's important that people recognise the signs of an opioid overdose early and know how to respond.

"Opioids can cause drowsiness, loss of consciousness and slowed breathing and can be life-threatening."

People who do end snorting the substance have been urged to be on the lookout for unexpected effects when consuming it.

They should seek urgent medical attention if that happens and users have been warned that naloxone is needed in an emergency to reverse the effects of an opioid overdose.

A new investigation has found Australia is in the midst of a cocaine epidemic. According to a report by Sky News Australia, the class A drug has been entering the country in massive quantities recently.

Despite the efforts of the police to stem the supply, Australia reportedly has the highest number of cocaine users per capita of any country in the world.

PA

News Corp Australia senior correspondent Charles Miranda said: "It is an absolute tsunami of drugs entering this country and you can't blame the police - they're a little force fighting it at the front end, but we are just being absolutely swamped by drugs, by meth, but mostly by cocaine."

According to the investigation, cocaine trade in Australia is said to be worth around $2 billion (£1.1bn), with five-and-a-half tonnes of it consumed there every year.

And it's only getting bigger, with Sydney still the country's cocaine capital.

Data from the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission's wastewater analysis last year showed that Sydney consumed 15 doses of cocaine per 1,000 people on an average day.

Comparatively, Melbourne recorded six doses and Brisbane five, while the country's actual capital city, Canberra, recorded 10 doses.

Topics: Australia

Stewart Perrie

Stewart Perrie is a Trending Journalist at LADbible. His first job was as a newsreader and journalist at the award winning Sydney radio station, Macquarie Radio. He was solely responsible for the content broadcast on multiple stations across Australia when the MH17, Germanwings and AirAsia disasters unfolded. Stewart has covered the conflict in Syria for LADbible, interviewing a doctor on the front line, and has contributed to the hugely successful UOKM8 campaign.

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