A cross-border taste for cocaine.

Police and government officials in Gibraltar have warned that cocaine use is on the increase. Across the border in Spain, however, a different scenario is unfolding.

An NGO that works with drug addicts claims the economic crisis has led to a drop in the number of people snorting expensive lines of cocaine. Instead, they are turning to heroin, a drug that had thankfully fallen out of fashion in recent years but now appears set for a comeback.

I interviewed Francisco Mena, the chairman of the Algeciras-based drug rehabilitation group Alternativas, for a story in the Chronicle. He told me that anecdotal evidence from walk-in rehab centres suggested people in the Campo were opting for cheaper drugs. “Over the past few years we’ve seen an increase in cocaine use, but now that’s changed,” Mena said. “Since the beginning of this year, the use of cocaine has dropped and more people are taking heroin.”
“They are switching to heroin because it’s cheaper.”

Contrast that with Gibraltar, where police commissioner Louis Wink recently offered a remarkably frank assessment of current trends. “As a result of enforcement activity and the intelligence at our disposal, it would appear that cocaine is becoming the drug of choice in Gibraltar…” Mr Wink told the newspaper Panorama.

Not that you can easily compare one side of the border with the other, of course. The number of users in the Campo area, naturally, is far higher than in Gibraltar, which was described by John Montegriffo, the Gibraltar Government’s drug strategy coordinator, as “a corner shop” in comparison to the Spanish drug supermarket. But it does seem that Gibraltar’s economic clout is evident not just in legitimate markets but also in the black economy too. It's a safe bet that most, if not all the cocaine consumed here comes from across the border.

According to Mena, a gram of cocaine sells for no more than E40 in Spain, whereas a dose of heroin could be bought for E6. In Gibraltar, Montegriffo said a gram cocaine retails at around £50 on the street. Montegriffo told me that many people who end up before Gibraltar’s courts on supply charges had been caught dealing small amounts to fund their own consumption. A heavy addict can get through several grams a day, which translates into a sizeable bill at the end of the month.

As for heroin, it still to early to see whether the drug will take hold again in the Campo area, which just a couple of decades ago had pockets where heroin was in heavy use. In Gibraltar, thankfully, it has never been a popular drug. In the past, it has remained the preserve of a just handful of hardcore addicts trapped in the misery of this nastiest of narcotics. Let’s hope it stay that way, but let’s also remain vigilant.