THERE’S a celebratory atmosphere among a group of friends when they are told their home town has the highest rate of cocaine use in Europe.
It may not be an accolade to take pride in, but one woman gleefully exclaims, “Oh, wow!”, before ringing a pal to give her the news.
A recent study has revealed that Middlesbrough, on Teesside, leads the continent for both weekday and weekend levels of cocaine in its sewage – but many of its residents don’t appear shocked or even concerned.
The local’s mate jokes: “Don’t tell me that! I am surprised it hasn’t been sniffed up the nose or smoked before it gets to the sewer, to be honest.
“I want it! I want to wash it up!”
She is referring to the process of converting cocaine into small crystals known as crack, which can then be smoked, inducing a faster-acting high.
A third woman, who is sitting outside the town’s Crown Court, exclaims, “In the sewage? Who is wasting coke?” when told of Middlesbrough’s status as the cocaine capital of Europe.
She adds: “I am not surprised at all. I’ve got five drug dealers‘ numbers in my phone.
“I don’t think people are necessarily addicted to cocaine in Middlesbrough.
“It’s not an everyday thing. I do it myself, but just when I go out at the weekend.
“I do know they have to wash up cocaine to make crack, and there’s a hell of a lot of crack heads around Middlesbrough.
“I said to my social worker, you go on like I am a smack head. If I want a bag on a Friday night, then I will have a bag on a Friday night.
“More people now in their 30s tend to just stay home and drink in the kitchen and get a bag.
“Cocaine is the most popular drug round here. It costs about £50 for a bag. The dealers can be quite competitive. There’s definitely a high demand for it.”
At £50 a bag it makes Middlesbrough one of the cheapest places to buy the drug in the country. In the UK as a whole, it is estimated it costs between £40 and £100.
One local quips: “I love a bag at the weekend.”
His pal adds: “There are people who are dependent on it, but they are very high-functioning.
“It keeps them focused, that’s why they use it. Lawyers, doctors and all the rest of them.
“I am surprised Middlesbrough is the worst.
“I do think it’s a problem, but it doesn’t shock me. High up people do it and get away with it. Everyone else gets reprimanded. Those at the top should be held accountable, just like those at the bottom.”
Dennis Pattison, a 73-year-old retired factory worker and former cocaine user, insisted it wasn’t an issue exclusive to the area.
He said: “Cocaine is a problem all over the country, not just Middlesbrough.
“I used to use it myself, but I’ve not had it for a long time.
“I do not mind people taking it as long as they don’t cause trouble.
“The only problem is, once people start taking it, they need more and more.
“When I took it, I was able to handle it quite well. I could take it or leave it. It made me feel happy and relaxed. It wasn’t a problem to give it up.”
Wastewater or sewage-based studies are understood to be a reliable way of measuring an area’s drug habits without requiring users to tell the truth.
The newly released figures, relating to last year, show Middlesbrough’s weekday average was 2,487.94 milligrams of cocaine per 1,000 people on weekdays, and just over 3,000 on weekends.
In comparison, weekday averages in European party capital Amsterdam are 1,039.05, the Mirror reports.
Middlesbrough was once famed the world over for its steel and iron production, before it gained a more dubious reputation for drug use.
Steelworks on Teesside employed around 40,000 workers at their peak, before the closure and demolition of the sites completed in 2015.
Today, a staggering 29.2 per cent of Middlesbrough’s working age population is economically inactive, compared to the national rate of around 20 per cent.
Meanwhile, the death rate from drugs in the North East has been the highest in the country for the 12 years leading up to 2024, according to the most recent figures from the Office for National Statistics.
And in the last two months, 11 dealers have been convicted – including a seven-strong group, who flooded the area drugs, as part of Operation Blackberry.
The group’s drugs line had been called 10,000 times in two months and the gang had been grooming and exploiting teens, some as young as 17, to deliver their illegal goods.
Operating separately from them was Christopher Bennison, 33, who sold crack cocaine near a children’s playground and from his doorstep, which led to police arresting him. He was jailed for three years and four months.
Leighton Finn-Gibbs, 20, jailed for 18 months, his second conviction linked to Class As, was nabbed after officers raided a drug den with large stashes of crack cocaine and cannabis, along with multiple users.
And Ross Lynch, 33, who had £4,000-worth of cocaine in his flat and was a known dealer in the area, was sentenced to 32 months in prison for possession with intent to supply.
Some locals blame a lack of jobs in the area for the widespread use of the substance in the town.
John Paul, a 43-year-old from nearby Stockton, replies “aye” when he is told Middlesbrough is the worst for the drug in Europe.
He adds: “I’m not surprised. There’s bags all over. The druggies just mooch about the streets, they don’t care. They are clearly off their faces, and do it in public.
“I see people openly taking cocaine.
“I think one of the main reasons it’s so bad here is that the younger generations just don’t care. There are no jobs for them.
“When I was growing up, there was an older generation who cared and there were more youth clubs. I was no angel when I was a kid, but the adults would take you off the streets to do stuff.
“There aren’t even any police around anymore. The younger kids get into dealing. If they aren’t dealing, they are taking.
“Cocaine use has always happened, but it’s much more blatant now. There should be a stronger police presence in the town.”
John Paul tells us you can buy a rock of crack for as little as £5 in the town, which is less than half the price it is in other parts of the UK.
“It’s very cheap,” he says. “I was taking my kids to school one morning and someone asked me for a light.
“I went to give him one but then realised he wanted it for a pipe of crack cocaine. I said no. The drug is rife.”
Married pensioners Billy and Marjorie Bell, from Middlesbrough, admit they were “not surprised” and said the prevalence of useage was “really shocking now”.
Billy, a 74-year-old retired railway worker, said: “You can see the change in this town since the steelworks and heavy industry went.
“People begging on the streets, and you know they are only doing it to feed their habit.
“We see drug deals taking place any time of the day and night, it’s absolutely blatant.
“Poverty has got a great deal to do with it, and depression.
“I think jobs are the answer. Not zero hour contracts, proper jobs, with proper pay packets and training.
“There is no industry now. When I was a kid, you had your pick of jobs.”
Marjorie, a 69-year-old retired carer, added: “People are struggling.
“They try to do their best, but then they get knocked back again. I think everyone should be doing more to help.”
Sam Minchair, 19, a receptionist from the town, said: “It surprises me cocaine use is so high in Middlesbrough. I didn’t realise.
“Weed is the most widely taken drug round here, I would have said. Everyone we know smokes it.
“I don’t think there’s anything the authorities can do anything to stop people from taking cocaine.
“If people want to do coke, they’re going to do it anyway, no matter what.”
Kaci Good, an unemployed 18-year-old from Hartlepool, added: “I am shocked by the statistic because Middlesbrough is not an awful place.
“I have no idea why so many people are doing cocaine. I don’t see the appeal of it at all.
“You shouldn’t rely on drugs to have fun. Cocaine definitely affects people in worse ways than other drugs such as weed.”
Malachi Morningstar, 20, who is unemployed, was also in disbelief over his town’s unsavoury drugs title.
He said: “I don’t see a lot of cocaine use, it’s mostly weed.
“Cocaine is one of the things people do, and they feel like it helps for a bit then they get addicted.
“Middlesbrough is one of the most dangerous places to live in the North East.
“You get stabbings all the time. People will be doing cocaine as a way to escape. I think the police should be doing more.
“People who take cocaine don’t just harm themselves, they harm others as well.”
Darren Birkett, from Middlesbrough Neighbourhood Team Inspector, said: “We are committed to tackling those offenders who bring class A drugs into Middlesbrough and putting them before the courts.
“Our proactive team prioritise targeted Class A drugs activity and we also carry out random operations in our local pubs, by taking drug detection dogs into our licensed premises to check for those inside who may be in possession of drugs.
“Wherever possible we will tackle criminality and protect our communities.”
