Despite the war in Ukraine and rising energy costs, international drug cartels are thriving. Europe is currently being “flooded” by drugs from South America, writes the “Hamburger Morgenpost”.
In particular, the amount of cocaine delivered is immense, it is said. Investigators would secure several tons of the party and performance drug every year. However, that is only a fraction of the contraband.
The “enormous access pressure” also affects the price. According to the report, a gram of cocaine for 60 euros results in around 15 “lines”.
Means: A “line” of cocaine currently costs four (!) euros on Germany’s streets. That’s less than a beer at the restaurant.
Interesting: With St.Gallen and Zurich, two Swiss cities are in the top 5 in Europe when it comes to cocaine residues in wastewater. Is a trend similar to that in Germany noticeable in this country?
On request, the “Addiction Switzerland” foundation refers to several reports and studies on the subject. It states that there is currently little up-to-date data on the use of illegal drugs in Switzerland.
However, according to the “Swiss Addiction Panorama 2023”, the available information indicates that cocaine problems are increasing in this country. «The current drug market is characterized by the combination of often high-dose products and extremely low prices. In some Swiss cities, a gram of high-dose cocaine costs less than 100 francs.
This is confirmed by an online survey by the “European Monitoring Center for Drugs and Drug-related Issues” from 2021. In total, data was collected from 871 participants residing in Switzerland.
The average price for cocaine was 93 francs per gram. Converted, that would correspond to a price of a good six francs for a line. Of course, the degree of purity also plays a role here.
At six francs, the price for a line of coke is often less than that of a can of beer. In the city of Zurich, this often costs around seven francs.