Cocaine floods Europe

This man used to attend this annual all night rave on the beach in Barcelona but this year he says he stayed away to avoid all the cocaine in the crowd. He says he now has to learn to live without cocaine. He sits in a drug rehab clinic now, and says the strong Euro puts cocaine within reach for many young people like himself. Social workers and analysts say that man is part of a growing number of cocaine workers across Europe, but here the problem is especially acute. One EU study suggests Spain leads Europe in cocaine consumption. This social worker says the two indicators are the starting age of cocaine users and the perception of the drug’s danger. American officials say this trend is coinciding with a downward usage of cocaine in the US and this American official says the weak dollar is contributing because Europe is now a more attractive target for drug traffickers. This EU official says the amount of illegal immigrants also show how drugs can be trafficked into Europe and drug traffickers use the same routes as human traffickers.