Feel Good Hit of the Summer

We’re only a month out from Thredbo ski season, but today we’re talking about a different kind of snow.

According to The Drug Detection Agency, cocaine-positive tests were up 45% in the March quarter compared with the same period last year. Australia is not alone. Cocaine use is on the rise in most of the world. 

Nor is it just cocaine. More than half (52%) of US workers reported using alcohol, cannabis, or unprescribed pharmaceutical drugs while at work. Perhaps unsurprisingly, there is more demand than ever to drug test white-collar employees. 

If bosses are worried now, they should surely brace for mid-May. According to new data out of the UK, the Eurovision song contest ranks as one of the most drug-fuelled nights of the year. To be fair, listening to Delta Goodrem is enough to make anyone rack up.

Around the world, drugs are big news and bigger business.

In Sri Lanka, 22 monks were arrested after 110kg of cannabis was discovered in their luggage, which does at least explain the relaxed vibe. And in the Solomon Islands, locals are trying to sell a narco sub (a semi-submersible designed to carry tonnes of drugs) for $27,000. Empty, alas. 

It’s all fun and games until someone gets hurt. And in the drug trade, a lot of people get hurt.

Pill testing at Ballarat's Spilt Milk festival found more than 10% of drugs contained an unexpected psychoactive substance. In the US, military strikes on more than 45 alleged narco boats have killed 163 people in the Caribbean. And the illegal cocaine market is responsible for the degradation of the Amazon and the rights of Indigenous land defenders.

So the next time you think about a cheeky bump to make it through Estonia’s Eurovision entry (Vanilla Ninja) or yet another meeting about an overdue project, perhaps think again.