MAUREEN CALLAHAN: Today's pop stars are obsessed with American Idol, Netflix and their own cosmetics lines. They're not fit to string the guitar of rock's wonderful, outrageous problem child Sinéad O'Connor

 

Nothing compared to her.

Sinéad O'Connor wasn't just one of the fiercest women in rock — she was sui generis. She didn't look like anybody. She didn't sound like anybody.

She was a one-woman revolution.

When O'Connor exploded out of Dublin in 1987 with her debut album, 'The Lion and the Cobra', she was a 20-year-old single mother with a shaved head, a movie star face, and a voice that Rolling Stone aptly described as 'supernatural'.

The industry wasn't sure what to do with her. She was funny, furious and more controversial than anyone, even Madonna. O'Connor publicly supported the IRA. She identified more with hip-hop and reggae than anyone in her genre. She couldn't help picking on her fellow Irishmen in U2, calling their music 'bombastic' and saying she hoped to outlive Bono so he couldn't speak at her funeral.

'I'm proud to be a troublemaker,' she told the New Music Express.

O'Connor was the last of a dying breed, a chanteuse who felt dangerous. She expressed female rage decades before it was acceptable or fashionable, well before #MeToo.

The women who stand on her shoulders — Adele, Taylor Swift, Katy Perry, Lana Del Ray, Ariana Grande, Lady Gaga — are soft edges by comparison. Not for Sinéad O'Connor was the corporatization of rock. Not for her was the opening of multiple revenue streams, cosmetics lines or Vegas residences, 'American Idol' judgeships or Netflix productions. She was fine with being misunderstood.

Of contemporary female artists, only Beyoncé spoke to her.

'I saw this great picture of Beyoncé,' O'Connor told NPR in 2014, 'with this great saying behind her: 'I'm not bossy, I'm the boss.' And I know the campaign was directed at young girls, but it actually caused me, as a female boss, to take my power.'

• 
  

Nothing compared to her. Sinéad O'Connor wasn't just one of the fiercest women in rock — she was sui generis. She didn't look like anybody. She didn't sound like anybody.

• 
  

O'Connor was the last of a dying breed, a chanteuse who felt dangerous. She expressed female rage decades before it was acceptable or fashionable, well before #MeToo.

For all her great gifts, most of O'Connor's life was a fight. She was born on December 8, 1966, the third of five children to an engineer father and homemaker mother. O'Connor spoke and wrote of the dire abuse — physical, mental, emotional, sexual — she suffered at her mother's hands, leaving her with complex PTSD and borderline personality disorder.

'Child abuse is an identity crisis and fame is an identity crisis,' she told The New York Times in 2021. 'So I went straight from one identity crisis to another.'

When O'Connor became pregnant while making her debut album, an exec at her label called her doctor, she said, to convince her to have an abortion.

'They thought I was jeopardizing my career,' she told Rolling Stone. 'My attitude was that if I had been a man, and my wife or girlfriend was pregnant, they wouldn't be telling me I couldn't have it.'

Her son Jake was born four months before the album's release. 'The Lion and the Cobra,' named for Psalm 91:13, was a critical smash and won her a Grammy nomination for Best Female Rock Vocal Performance.

Its success came with one compromise: Her label decided the North American album cover should feature a demure image of O'Connor — more commercial, more palatable than the European one with her fists balled under her chin, mouth wide open, howling in rage or delight or maybe both.

'I was angry, understandably, and raging, but I put it into music,' she said, 'and into the volume of my voice or how I used my voice.'

But it was her mournful, pleading cover of Prince's 'Nothing Compares 2 U' — along with an accompanying video that was mostly an extended close-up of her face — that turned O'Connor into a worldwide phenomenon.

It was 1992, and there was only one problem: O'Connor refused to play nice. No matter that her male peers in rock at that time — Rage Against the Machine, Nirvana, Guns N' Roses, Alice in Chains, Nine Inch Nails — were full of fury.

• 
  

Her son Jake (above) was born four months before the album's release. 'The Lion and the Cobra,' named for Psalm 91:13, was a critical smash and won her a Grammy nomination for Best Female Rock Vocal Performance.

• 
  

It was her mournful, pleading cover of Prince's 'Nothing Compares 2 U' — along with an accompanying video that was mostly an extended close-up of her face — that turned O'Connor into a worldwide phenomenon.

Sinéad O'Connor became rock's problem child.

She made headlines for snubbing the Grammys and refusing 'The Star Spangled Banner' to play before her shows. While performing on 'Saturday Night Live', she ripped up a photo of the Pope, said, 'Fight the real enemy!' and herself became Public Enemy Number One.

Of course, O'Connor would be proven right about the Catholic Church and its systemic abuse of children. That photo, she later said, hung in her mother's bedroom, and after her mother died O'Connor took it and waited for the right moment to destroy it.

That single act killed her career. She was cancelled before cancel culture was even a thing.

'I'm not sorry I did it', she later told the Times. 'But it was very traumatizing. It was open season on treating me like a crazy bitch.'

In truth, O'Connor suffered greatly with her mental health. Her rejection from mainstream culture marked the beginning of her downward spiral, and this fierce Irish hellion ultimately became something she never wanted: A sideshow, an object of pity.

Her compatriot Morrissey may be a crank, but he's not wrong in pointing out the hypocrisy of an industry that ignores troublesome women in life but lionizes them in death.

'She was dropped by her label after selling seven million albums for them,' he posted shortly after her death was announced. 'She became crazed, yes, but uninteresting, never. She had done nothing wrong.

'She had proud vulnerability… and there is a certain music industry hatred for singers who don't 'fit in' . . . She had the courage to speak when everyone else stayed safely silent.'

O'Connor never again achieved the artistic heights of her twenties. Instead she became known for her struggles and suicide attempts, appearing in confessionals on Oprah and Dr. Phil. She had a radical hysterectomy; was diagnosed with bipolar disorder; spent years cycling through different mental health facilities; and for a time in 2017 lived in a Travelodge motel in New Jersey.

• 
  

While performing on 'Saturday Night Live', she ripped up a photo of the Pope, said, 'Fight the real enemy!' and herself became Public Enemy Number One. (shown above)

• 
  

Her compatriot Morrissey may be a crank, but he's not wrong in pointing out the hypocrisy of an industry that ignores troublesome women in life but lionizes them in death. 

• 
  

One year later, her 17-year-old son Shane (above, left) committed suicide. It broke her.

'Mental illness — it's like drugs,' she said in a Facebook video posted from that motel. 'It doesn't give a s—t who you are . . . I'm fighting and fighting and fighting . . . to stay alive every day.'

Her last great work was her 2021 memoir 'Rememberings', which was cogent, self-aware, dishy and above all, Sinéad O'Connor's final word on Sinéad O'Connor. 'I'm not a pop star,' she wrote. 'I'm just a troubled soul who needs to scream into mikes now and then.'

One year later, her 17-year-old son Shane committed suicide. It broke her.

'Been living as an undead creature since,' she tweeted last week. 'He was the love of my life, the lamp of my soul. We were one soul in two halves. He was the only person who ever loved me unconditionally. I am lost in the bardo' — in purgatory — 'without him.'

Sinéad O'Connor gave more of herself, through her art and her life, than perhaps any of us truly realized.

As her friend Bob Geldof once said, 'Many people would have collapsed under the weight of being Sinéad O'Connor, had it not been Sinéad.'

Even Bono couldn't stay mad at her.

'I heard your voice first as a teenager,' he wrote in an open letter to O'Connor three years ago. 'I felt I had stumbled upon a new land with its own unique voice . . . you stole my heart.'

Along with ours.

source

Read More

Other, 26, had all her teeth pulled because she vomited so much while pregnant

 

A new mum had all of her teeth removed after vomiting so much during her first pregnancy.

Louise Cooper, from Reading, was told she needed to have her teeth taken out six months after giving birth due to acid damage from the vomit. 

But the 26-year-old, who has since had two more kids, claims she now enjoys her 'relaxing' life without teeth.  

Ms Cooper discovered she was pregnant in February 2017 while working as a nanny at a ski resort in France.

A week later, however, her vomiting had become so painful she was left with little choice but return to the UK.

• 
  

Louise Cooper from Reading, was told she needed to have her teeth taken out six months after giving birth due to acid damage from the vomit. Pictured after having her teeth removed

• 
  

The 26-year-old claimed she was forced to vomit to so frequently over the course of nine months that her teeth began falling out. The hairdresser said: 'The damage was caused by the acid from vomiting. I lost my first tooth around 16 weeks and it was just out of nowhere.' Six months after the birth of her child, she had all her teeth removed

Left bed-bound as her symptoms worsened, it was only two months later in April, that she was diagnosed with hyperemesis gravidarum (HG).

HG, which Kate Middleton famously suffered while carrying Prince George and saw her hospitalised, can lead to dehydration, weight loss and serious mental health problems.

Up to one in 30 pregnant women suffer from the HG in the UK and US. It causes persistent and excessive nausea and vomiting.

It is not clear what causes the condition, or why some women get it and others don't.

Some experts think it may be linked to the changes in hormone levels during pregnancy.

And there is some evidence that it runs in families and women who suffered it during their first pregnancy are more likely to have in any subsequent pregnancies.

Ms Cooper claimed she was forced to vomit so frequently over the course of nine months that her teeth began falling out.

When being sick, stomach acid which is needed to breakdown food is brought up into the mouth. Over time, the substance can erode enamel and teeth.

The hairdresser said: 'The damage was caused by the acid from vomiting.

'I lost my first tooth around 16 weeks and it was just out of nowhere.

'I was told that my teeth would need to be removed as they were so damaged.'

Six months after giving birth to her son Zachary, now five, in November 2017, Ms Cooper had her teeth removed.

She has since had two more children — Ollie, now three, and Oakley, 11 months. 

The mum-of-three added: 'HG disappears when the baby is delivered. However, I had more than one child and I have suffered from HG every time.

'I would say my diet isn't the healthiest as it is restricted from trauma.

'It has restricted my diet — I don't eat a lot of meat anymore. I mainly stick to eating vegetables.' 

• 
  

Up to one in 30 pregnant women suffer from the HG each year in the UK and US. It causes persistent and excessive nausea and vomiting. It is not clear what causes the condition, or why some women get it and others don't. Pictured, Ms Cooper during her pregnancy

• 
  

She has since had two more children - Ollie, now three, and Oakley, 11 months. Pictured, Ms Cooper with Zachary before her teeth were removed

• 
  

The Duchess of Cambridge also suffered from the condition when expecting her first child, Prince George, in 2012. She was admitted to hospital for three days

She said: 'It is hard to go back into a routine of understanding that food won't make me vomit anymore.

'It was very traumatic, I wouldn't wish it upon my worst enemy.

'A lot of people compare it to the side effects of chemo as you feel like you are dying. It is unpleasant. It is emotionally and physically draining.'

It is only within the last year — five years after her teeth were initially removed — that she has come to terms with the loss, she said.

Ms Cooper said: 'I have accepted the fact I have no teeth. I have dentures now but they are not the most comfortable things to wear as they are cosmetic.

'They are also very triggering for the traumatic side of HG.'

But, she added: 'I can now leave the house without having teeth in. Life is more relaxing and enjoyable for me.'

She said: 'Everything has gone back to normal. I have embraced having no teeth. I have only really just come to terms with everything in the past year.'

Source link

 

Read More

As TV presenter Davina McCall demonstrated in a Channel 4 documentary, undergoing scans during the insertion of a contraceptive coil might lessen discomfort.

 

Undergoing an ultrasound scan while a contraceptive coil is fitted can reduce pain as well as lower the risk of complications, a study has found.

Doctors use the images created by high-frequency sound waves to guide the device into the womb, ensuring it doesn't end up lodged in the wrong position.

If set incorrectly, the T-shaped coil – made from either copper or plastic – can push on muscle or become loose, causing pain and bleeding.

About a million women in the UK have the procedure every year – mostly carried out in sexual health clinics or GP surgeries – which reduces the risk of pregnancy by 99 per cent and also combats symptoms of the menopause.

TV host Davina McCall had her coil procedure filmed for Channel 4 documentary Pill Revolution last month, in which she explored concerns about the contraceptive pill. The 55-year-old has the Mirena coil, which releases a synthetic hormone that mimics the effects of progesterone to block pregnancy. In the show she describes the painful fitting.

• 
  

TV host Davina McCall had her coil procedure filmed for Channel 4 documentary Pill Revolution last month, in which she explored concerns about the contraceptive pill

• 
  

If set incorrectly, the T-shaped coil (pictured) – made from either copper or plastic – can push on muscle or become loose, causing pain and bleeding

But data published in the Journal of Ultrasound in Medicine shows that when the fitting is carried out using an ultrasound scan, patients are far less likely to experience pain. The gynaecologists also found the scan sped up the procedure and reduced the risk of the device becoming dislodged later on.

Currently, ultrasound scans are offered only to women in hospital who have a history of difficult fittings. Some doctors argue the new findings mean a scan should be offered to all.

'It's difficult to argue that it shouldn't be standard practice,' says Dr Joel Naftalin, a consultant gynaecologist at University College London.

But other doctors have warned that rolling out the procedure could be difficult.

'Most GPs are not trained to use this scan and don't have an ultrasound machine in their surgery,' says Dr Philippa Kaye, a GP who specialises in women's health.

Source link

 

Read More

Woman talks about strange symptoms she had before having a stroke that left her unable to move or speak when she was 22.

 

A woman has shared the bizarre warning symptoms she experienced ahead of a devastating stroke which left her unable to walk or talk - describing the moment she felt her brain 'explode'.

Morgan Bailey, originally from New Jersey but now living in Arizona, was just 22 and working at a school when she started experiencing worrying symptoms - including an 'excruciating' headache and numbness along the right side of her body.

Perhaps most bizarrely, for a few months she had noticed a change to her eyelashes, with them appearing very straight on her right eye - something that hasn't been medically linked, but that Morgan believes was a warning sign.

She underwent surgery but remains paralysed on her right side - which will be a permanent effect of what she went through.

Morgan, now 24, explained: 'If you would have asked me 'can someone have a stroke aged 22?', I would have said 'no way'. I had to re-learn everything. I had to re-learn how to walk. I had to re-learn how to speak properly. I had to re-learn how to write with my left hand.'

• 
  

Morgan Bailey, originally from New Jersey but now living in Arizona, was just 22 when she suffered a stroke 

• 
  

After suffering a stroke, Morgan underwent surgery but remains paralysed on her right side - which will be a permanent effect of what she went through

Morgan had been diagnosed with an arteriovenous malformation (AVM) at the age of 18 after falling and hitting her head at school one day.

AVMs are abnormal tangles of blood vessels which can cause irregular connections between the arteries and veins - which often develop in the spinal cord and brain.

When she woke up the following day with paralysis in her right side and struggling to walk properly, she went to hospital and was later told she had an AVM and had suffered three brain aneurysms.

Morgan said she was no given any medication or treatment, with doctors 'too scared to touch it' due to it being in her thalamus.

She added: 'They told me to go home and live life, and that's what I did for five years.'

In the four years that followed, Morgan was able to lead a normal life with few worries about her condition - until the day of the stroke.

'My life has completely flipped upside down,' Morgan told NeedToKnow.co.uk.

'My health was perfect before - I never had any issues.'

On the day of the stroke as the headache got worse, she quickly found her friend to say she wasn't feeling well before having the sensation that her 'brain exploded'.

It was the last thing she would remember for a month.

Morgan was rushed to hospital and remained there for seven weeks in the ICU while she recovered from the stroke.

When she woke up, she was paralysed on her right side and had to learn how to walk, speak and write again.

• 
  

Morgan was rushed to hospital and remained there for seven weeks in the ICU while she recovered from the stroke

• 
  

After she suffered the stroke, Morgan said life will never be the same because it has 'completely flipped upside down'

• 
  

Morgan had been diagnosed with an arteriovenous malformation (AVM) at the age of 18 after falling and hitting her head at school one day

Morgan said she was no given any medication or treatment, with doctors 'too scared to touch it' due to it being in her thalamus

• 
  

Despite having the diagnosis, Morgan was able to live a relatively normal life - until she suffered the stroke 

• 
  

For a few months before the stroke, Morgan noticed a change to her eyelashes, with them appearing very straight on her right eye

On the day of the stroke as the headache got worse, she quickly found her friend to say she wasn't feeling well before having the sensation that her 'brain exploded'

She said: 'I had no idea what this was before it happened.

'I can't use my right hand so I'm very thankful for technology and I voice-type.'

She underwent brain surgery (a craniotomy) to remove 75 per cent of the AVM, and had intense physical and speech therapy following the stroke. 

Morgan said: 'Mentally, I think I did phenomenally.

'More than half of people who have a traumatic brain injury face depression, anxiety, or stress, but I was super positive.

'Of course, there were days when I was sad, but the next day, I was positive. I just had to get out of my funk.'

When she woke up after her stroke, she was paralysed on her right side and had to learn how to walk, speak and write again

• 
  

Morgan, pictured in hospital in July 2021, had to learn to walk again during her time in hospital after the stroke 

• 
  

She underwent brain surgery (a craniotomy) to remove 75 per cent of the AVM, and had intense physical and speech therapy following the stroke

• 
  

After undergoing therapy for a number of years, Morgan now wants to help others who might be in need

 

Source link

Read More

The NHS's "healthy weight" algorithm gave fat people the incorrect recommendation to consume up to 2,000 "excess" calories per week, or the equal of FOUR Big Macs.

 

The NHS's 'healthy weight' calculator has been wrongly advising overweight people to eat hundreds of excess calories per day, a scientist has claimed.

The error meant people who did light exercise once a week were told to eat as much as people who exercised nearly every day.

If the typical dieter followed the health service's instructions, they could have put on almost two and a half stone in a year.

Obesity expert Dr Stuart Flint first warned health officials about the 'nonsensical' calculations more than two years ago, in May 2021, yet nothing was done.

It was not until his concerns were published in The Lancet journal in March this year that the NHS took the calculator off its website.

• 
  

• 
  

The error meant that Brits who did light exercise once a week were told to eat as much as people who exercised nearly every day. It meant a man of 5' 9', weighing 14st 6lbs - about a stone above average - was told to eat a minimum of 1,817 calories per day if he did no exercise (left graphic). But he was advised to eat an extra 819 calories per week (an additional 117 calories per day) for doing at least 30 minutes of exercise per week, and an extra 2,086 calories per week (298 per day) for doing 60 minutes or more of exercise per week (right graphic)

It was put back online earlier this month, with the calorie advice removed.

The errors meant that an overweight man trying to lose weight could be advised to eat almost 300 excess calories per day, while women in the same category were advised to eat up to 240 extra calories every day.

Those following the advice would have consumed up to 2,086 additional calories per week – equivalent to more than four Big Mac burgers.

It is understood the online calculator, which is consulted 22million times per year, had been giving out the misleading advice since 2018.

Dr Flint, an associate professor of the psychology of obesity at the University of Leeds, said: 'People were getting told to consume different amounts of calories based on information that actually is wrong… They could be consuming hundreds of calories more per day.'

The NHS's 'BMI [Body Mass Index] healthy weight calculator' was created as part of efforts to tackle Britain's obesity epidemic.

Two in three adults in the country are overweight or obese.

BMI is an indicator of whether someone is a healthy weight for their height. A healthy BMI is between 18.5 and 24.9, while anything above 25 is considered overweight and above 30 is obese.

The NHS's calculator told anyone whose BMI was 25 or above how many calories they should eat per day if they wanted to gradually lose weight, based on how active they were.

It asked people to input basic details, including their weight, height, sex, ethnicity and activity levels.

People who were deemed to be overweight or obese were then told how many calories to consume daily if they wanted to lose weight.

Those who were more physically active were advised to eat more than those who had sedentary lifestyles.

But the calculator overestimated the impact of very small increases in exercise, potentially encouraging millions of dieters to consume more calories than they needed.

The calculator asked people to choose between three levels of activity: inactive, moderately active and active.

'Inactive' was defined as 0 to 30 minutes of exercise per week, but 'moderately active' was wrongly classed as between 30 and 60 minutes exercise per week and 'active' as between 60 and 150 minutes per week.

According to the NHS's own guidance, only people doing at least 150 minutes of exercise per week should be considered 'active'.

People who checked the wrongly-defined 'moderately active' or 'active' boxes were allocated hundreds of extra calories per day, despite doing only slightly more weekly exercise.

It meant a man of 5' 9', weighing 14st 6lbs - about a stone above average - was told to eat a minimum of 1,817 calories per day if he did no exercise.

But he was advised to eat an extra 819 calories per week (an additional 117 calories per day) for doing at least 30 minutes of exercise per week, and an extra 2,086 calories per week (298 per day) for doing 60 minutes or more of exercise per week.

In fact, 30 minutes of brisk walking for a man of this weight would burn only 174 calories, while 60 minutes would burn just 348 calories in total.

Following the advice could lead to an average weight gain of 2st 5lb per year.

Tam Fry, chair of the National Obesity Forum, said he was 'staggered' the NHS had allowed the tool to give out inaccurate information for years.

'Sadly, it will undoubtedly mean that countless people are heavier than they need to be if they followed the calculator's advice - and it is terrible that the NHS ignored the need to correct its advice for so long,' he said.

Dr Flint said the inaccurate descriptions of what counted as 'active' had mislead millions of people.

'The fact that you're told, if you're in the "moderate" group to consume more than the "inactive group" - that's an issue,' he added. 'You're getting told: "You can consume another 100 to 200 calories per day", which you shouldn't be, because you're still inactive.'

One person who contacted Dr Flint on social media after reading his letter in the Lancet said: 'I was following the NHS BMI calculator guidelines for calorific intake, but continually gained weight.'

After doing their own calorie calculations, the dieter was able to reduce their BMI from 37.0 to 27.4.

Professor Barbara McGowan, co-chair of the Obesity Management Task Force at the European Association for the Study of Obesity (EASO), said that consuming 200 excess calories per day could lead to someone gaining up to 1kg (around 2lbs) a month - or 1st 12lbs per year.

'If a problem [with the advice] has been identified, it seems sensible to correct it as soon as feasibly possible,' she added.

The calculator, which was taken down in March, was reinstated online at the start of this month with the controversial sections about physical activity and daily calorie recommendations removed.

An NHS source said the calorie ranges were allocated to a spectrum of activity, meaning the same figures were given to those doing between 60 and 150 minutes of exercise per week.

A spokesperson said all the recommendations were 'evidence-based'.

They added: 'In line with NICE guidance, the BMI calculator no longer provides advice on calories so that other factors such as lifestyle are considered when offering advice on weight management.'

 

Source link

Read More

People are sniffing cocaine at an all-time high, according to a UN research, with 22 million doing so at least once annually.

A record number of people are now snorting cocaine worldwide, a United Nations report suggests.

More than 22million used the drug at least once in 2021, the latest year available, according to estimates from the agency's Office on Drugs and Crime.

This was up five percent on the 21million the previous year and nearly a third on a decade ago. It also marked the fourth year in a row that usage has risen.

Overall, 296million people used drugs in 2021, the report found, which was up 23 percent from a decade ago. 

The agency warned that the world was experiencing a 'prolonged surge' in supply and demand for cocaine — one of the most popular drugs in countries like the United States. They warned this ran the risk of new markets springing up in other countries.

• 
  

The above graph shows how much land is being used to cultivate the coca plant, which is used to make cocaine. Estimates suggest that this is now at record levels (green line) with Colombia, Peru and Bolivia being the top growers

• 
  

The above shows the estimated number of people who use cocaine globally up to the year 2020. The estimates for 2021 put the new figure at 22million

In the United States, cocaine is a Schedule II substance alongside fentanyl, methamphetamines and morphine. In the UK, it is a Class A drug — or among those with the highest potential for abuse.

Writing in their report, the UN agency warned: 'The world is currently experiencing a prolonged surge in both supply and demand of cocaine, which is now being felt across the globe.

'[It] is likely to spur the development of new markets beyond the traditional confines.'

The estimates were generated using data on cocaine use that was reported by more than a dozen countries to the agency.

The agency did not say whether they thought this was likely to be an underestimate.

The report said the bulk of the cocaine market is in the Americas, where the top manufacturers Colombia, Peru and Bolivia are based.

But it has also found a large market in Western and Central Europe as well as Australia.

Markets are also growing quickly, albeit from low levels, in Africa, Asia and South-Eastern Europe.

It was the most used drug in countries including the UK, Canada, Australia and France.

In the United States, it was the most used drug behind cannabis — which is federally illegal but has been decriminalized in many states.

The report also said that there was a record amount of agricultural land now being turned over for growing the coca plant, which is used to make cocaine.

Estimates suggested that 315,000 hectares are now used for this plant, while total production reached 2,304 tons. Both figures are record highs.

The amount of cocaine sezied was 2,026 tons in 2021, with the agency saying that the growth in these was outpacing that in production.

• 
  

The above shows cocaine seizures by their size across the world. Most are in South America and across Europe

• 
  

This shows the estimated supply of cocaine that is available when seizures are removed from production figures

In the cocaine supply chain, farmers sell their leaves to drug cartels which process them in a 'super-lab' where they use acid to extract the cocaine compound.

This is then smuggled to market either as a white powder or via hiding it in other items such as charcoal and some plastics — from which it can be extracted.

In the United States, cocaine is the second most popular drug behind only cannabis.

There was a surge in usage of the drug leading up to 2002, amid higher availability and fewer seizures according to addiction center FHE Health in Florida.

But it then began to drop off, reaching a low point between 2012 and 2016, before rising slightly and then flatlining at more than a million people per year.

America is currently battling a drug crisis driven by cocaine, heroin and other drugs being laced with fentanyl, a powerful sedative that is 50 times more powerful than heroin.

The roots of America's drug crisis can be traced back to the 1990s when pharmaceutical companies began aggressively marketing opioid painkillers as a safe and effective way to treat chronic pain.

The companies convinced doctors that the risk of addiction was low, prompting them to write prescriptions for millions of Americans.

When these ran out many eventually turned to the black market to keep taking the drugs because they had become addicted, with many turning to heroin as a cheaper and more accessible alternative.

This spawned today's crisis when supplies of drugs like heroin began to be laced with fentanyl by manufacturers.

 

 

Source link

 

 

 

Read More