Don’t pass over the powder room popularity

“I wonder how much money is up her nose,” someone mutters as a striking blonde hands her ID to the bouncer. Once approved, she hastens toward a group of equally platinum girls, her heels clicking, hand fidgeting with the button on her Louis Vuitton purse.

For those in the know, the must-have accessory this fall is cocaine.

The government and school officials have long sniffed at the treacherous drug in the past, focusing prevention efforts on binge drinking and marijuana.

Now certain college hangouts have become known as coke bars. These swanky clubs have VIP rooms tucked away from the public eye. Here patrons snort and smoke worry-free, with masseuses and private dancers included for the privileged few admitted.

As John Travolta’s drug dealer in Pulp Fiction said, “Coke is coming back in a big f–ing way.”

Almost 5 percent of all college students had used the stimulant within the last year, and more than 2 percent had used it within the last 30 days in 2000, according to Bureau of Justice statistics from that year. That may seem like a small number, but it marks an almost 150 percent increase since 1995.

But coke use isn’t restricted to the cool college party scene. Trendy high schoolers have picked up on the fad, too. In 2001, 2.1 percent of high school seniors said they’d used cocaine within the past month.

Programs like DARE teach students about the dangers and effects of drug use, and students have learned the information. Teens aren’t naive about drugs. They know cocaine is dangerous and can be deadly. More than 80 percent of high school seniors think people are at “great risk” for harming themselves by using drugs.

But the message got lost along the way. Teens are informed, but they don’t “just say ‘no'” – at lease that’s how it appears. And the results have been disastrous.

The age group with the most drug users is the 18- to 25-year-old set. The college-age crowd is graduating from high school, turning 21, going to bars and raves – living life to the fullest. They’re also seriously damaging their bodies, even dying.

Although cocaine gives its user an immediate rush, a feeling of energy, power and well-being, the effect quickly wears off, leaving the user wanting more. He will do more and more to maintain his high, sometimes overdosing in an attempt to stay high.

Cocaine was the most common drug reported in emergency room episodes from 1997 to 2000. In 2000, 174,881 cases – about two times as many as heroin – were reported.

The war against drugs hasn’t succeeded as it planned. Billions of dollars leave the U.S. economy each year, in an exchange of illicit drugs for five-minute pleasure, and dealers are putting their wares into younger and younger hands daily.

The trend doesn’t seem to be fading out. Addicted users will continue to increase until school administrators step in, acknowledge the problem and expel it. Yes, marijuana and drinking should go, too, but let’s make sure we’re sweeping cocaine out the door, not under the rug.