Dr Martha Newson was interviewed on BBC’s Radio 5 Live about the use of cocaine in football and whether this fuels violence.
Future Leaders Fellow at the School of Anthropology and Conservation Dr Martha Newson was interviewed on BBC’s Radio 5 Live about the prevalence of cocaine use amongst football supporters.
No longer just accessible to the wealthy as was previously the case, cocaine is cheaper and more widely available now.
Newson’s paper published last year sampled around 1500 British football fans and asked them about their personal cocaine use and also their experience of others consuming cocaine in football stadiums. Of fans willing to complete the online survey, 1% reported personal cocaine use, with 30% reporting seeing others use it.
She continued to comment on the social acceptance of cocaine use, with many now subtly taking it within the stadium stands.
In a chicken and egg debate, Newson discusses a violent and disruptive culture being reared in football and how how “we can’t say cocaine is causing violence, that it’s leading to violence because people are drinking alcohol as well”