A local cocaine dealer has confirmed to the Cork Independent that the festive season this year will be his busiest yet, with a number of users having already placed orders ahead of the Christmas rush.

Despite the recent spate of highly publicised cocaine-connected deaths it seems that many revellers in Cork will ignore the warnings this Christmas and continue to indulge in what is a potentially fatal habit.

According to Mike Devine, Programme Administrator at Tabor Lodge, "Addicts can delude themselves to think they do not have a problem".

He explained there are lots of different ways for people to say that they don't have a problem outlining for example that if there was a bad batch of cocaine in the country, they might say it's restricted to the East and will not affect them.

David Lane of the Cork Local Drug Task Force, admitted there was a general apathy among Cork cocaine users towards the recent tragic deaths, but furthered that this was also apparent at a national level.

"No matter where you go in this country, people are not particularly affected by deaths among drug users. The media's assertion that 'everyone' is doing cocaine is actually false and is helping to normalise the drug. There are many kids these days who use cannabis without realising it is illegal. The current media speculation about cocaine's use in Ireland may help to ensure a time very soon where kids will take cocaine and not realise they are doing something illegal."

Mike Devin added that the apparent apathy of Cork cocaine users was underlined by a number of local figures, including City representatives, Gardaí and drug councillors, who claimed that despite recent widespread media coverage on the subject, the message has yet to sink in, and the image of the substance as a "harmless recreational drug" was misleading and potentially fatal.

David Lane reiterated however that alcohol is still the most abused drug followed by alcohol with cannabis and alcohol with cocaine.

"It's very unusual for anyone to be solely addicted to cocaine," he said, "the profile of an abuser can be anyone from middle class social users and those from poorer backgrounds who use cocaine in their drug career, it's a real cross section.

Miriam O'Connell from the Anchor Treatment Centre in Mallow gave a contrary view however. She told the Cork Independent, "I haven't seen this apathy, but, if someone is using cocaine fairly frequently they won't even tune into what's happening because they are so caught up in it .

"Others who might be misusing the drug just have an attitude that it won't happen to them. It can be human nature for us to think things won't happen to us."

She added that cocaine has become more prevalent however and that it seems to be more readily available."

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