This article is from page 1 of the 2008-09-30 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 1 JPG
THE cocaine-related deaths of two west Clare men has prompted gardai to issue a stern warning on the avail- ability of toxic forms of the drug.
A 22-year-old man died from a suspected cocaine overdose in Au- gust, while details have just emerged about another cocaine-related death – also in the greater Miltown Malbay
area – afew months earlier.
In that incident, a 29-year-old man was found dead in his apartment by his girlfriend. He had cocaine in the pocket of his jeans, while cocaine and alcohol was detected in his sys- 008
At an inquest last week, a doctor said that his death was due to acute cardiac respiratory failure, second- ary to the presence of opiates, co-
caine and alcohol. This has prompted gardai to warn about the devastating effects of the drug. “We are still seiz- ing significant quantities of cocaine, which is a worry. Our advice for anyone thinking of experimenting with cocaine is not to,’ said a garda spokesman.
“Cocaine is generally cut with oth- er substances. People who prepare cocaine are unscrupulous as to what
substances they use to bulk it,’ he said. He said that buyers do not know what they are getting and cocaine can be toxic. The speed at which people get into trouble with cocaine is frightening. We are amazed at this. People are more likely to get into fi- nancial bother, followed by addiction problems,” added the source.
In Clare, cocaine is sold at around €100 per bag, or €50 per gram.