CHEAP COCAINE FLOODS ESTATES

COCAINE, the ultimate "success" drug, has fallen on hard times. Once
the preserve of touring rock stars, footballers and City wide boys,
it is becoming the drug of choice in Scotland's housing schemes,
writes Carlos Alba.

Ministers are alarmed by the development and have ordered an inquiry
to find out who is using the drug and what damage it is doing to
Scottish communities.

Its increased availability is linked to a global price slump. A
decade ago the average price of cocaine in Scotland was ?200 per
gram. Until the late 1990s it remained at about ?100 a gram. Now the
same amount can be bought for ?40.

A study earlier this year by Crew 2000, an Edinburgh-based drug
agency, found that among substance abusers 63% were using cocaine
compared with 40% two years ago. A recent Scottish crime survey found
that cocaine use among 16 to 24-year-olds had doubled in two years.

The drug is traditionally associated with the rich and famous,
following the well publicised addictions of celebrities like Robbie
Williams and former It girl Tara Palmer-Tomkinson.

Mike Cadger, project manager at Crew 2000, said: "There's a shift
into cocaine use, principally among people in their early twenties
from ordinary backgrounds.

"Many people find it a cleaner drug than ecstasy in that they can
control it much more easily."