One less welcome side-effect of the economic boom of recent years has been an increase in the consumption of hard drugs. At the same time as the overall crime rate has been dropping, the Metropolitan Police confiscated record quantities of cocaine, amphetamine and ecstasy in 2017.
Read more: Crime rate in capital region dropped significantly in 2016: Burglaries down by 22%
In 2014 the Metropolitan Police confiscated some quantity of cocaine on average in 10 cases each month. Last year cases where cocaine was confiscated numbered 20 each month.
Three times as much cocaine in 2017
According to preliminary figures from the Metropolitan Police 1,809 grams of cocaine, nearly three times the quantity confiscated in 2016 when the police confiscated 621 grams of cocaine. The quantity of amphetamine has also increased, from 8.801 grams in 2016 to 11,926 grams in 2017.
The quantity of ecstasy similarly increased, from 1,814 grams in 2016 to 4,345 grams last year.
The number of drug busts also increased last year. A total of 153 people were arrested for distributing drugs in 2017, compared to 120 in 2016.
The „rich man‘s drug“
A spokesman for the Metropolitan Police told the local newspaper Fréttablaðið that the increase was most likely caused by the economic boom. This was especially the case with cocaine, which appears to increase in popularity with improving economic conditions. The police noticed a similar development in the 2000s, as cocaine use increased dramatically in 2006 and 2007.
Cocaine is the rich man‘s drug in Iceland, as it‘s street price is relatively high. One gram (0.35 oz) of cocaine for as much as 15,000 ISK (150 USD/120 EUR) according to the sources of Fréttablaðið.
One less welcome side-effect of the economic boom of recent years has been an increase in the consumption of hard drugs. At the same time as the overall crime rate has been dropping, the Metropolitan Police confiscated record quantities of cocaine, amphetamine and ecstasy in 2017.
Read more: Crime rate in capital region dropped significantly in 2016: Burglaries down by 22%
In 2014 the Metropolitan Police confiscated some quantity of cocaine on average in 10 cases each month. Last year cases where cocaine was confiscated numbered 20 each month.
Three times as much cocaine in 2017
According to preliminary figures from the Metropolitan Police 1,809 grams of cocaine, nearly three times the quantity confiscated in 2016 when the police confiscated 621 grams of cocaine. The quantity of amphetamine has also increased, from 8.801 grams in 2016 to 11,926 grams in 2017.
The quantity of ecstasy similarly increased, from 1,814 grams in 2016 to 4,345 grams last year.
The number of drug busts also increased last year. A total of 153 people were arrested for distributing drugs in 2017, compared to 120 in 2016.
The „rich man‘s drug“
A spokesman for the Metropolitan Police told the local newspaper Fréttablaðið that the increase was most likely caused by the economic boom. This was especially the case with cocaine, which appears to increase in popularity with improving economic conditions. The police noticed a similar development in the 2000s, as cocaine use increased dramatically in 2006 and 2007.
Cocaine is the rich man‘s drug in Iceland, as it‘s street price is relatively high. One gram (0.35 oz) of cocaine for as much as 15,000 ISK (150 USD/120 EUR) according to the sources of Fréttablaðið.
