Britain is the drug capital of Europe

The British have developed a predilection for illegal drugs which is
unrivalled throughout Europe. Ian Burrell finds that an EU report out
tomorrow will put pressure on Britain's policymakers to rethink their
whole approach to drug education.

The British tourist authorities will happily concede that this country
introduced the world to the delights of whisky and gin: they may not be
quite so ready to promote the fact that we also lead the way in our
appreciation of other more illicit substances such as cannabis,
amphetamines, LSD and ecstasy.

Tomorrow the European Union will publish a report which will show just how
deeply ingrained drug culture has become in British society. It shows that
we use considerably more illegal drugs than any other member state.

Cannabis, in particular, impacts more on the national mood than the
Government may hitherto have realised. One in eight Britons aged under 40
admitted to having used the drug in the last year, more than any other
country.

Young British adults also use more amphetamines, ecstasy and LSD than
citizens of the other EU countries.

More than half of the EU seizures of these socalled "dance drugs" were
made in Britain, according to the survey carried out for the EU by the
Lisbonbased European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction.

Professor Martin Plant, head of the Alcohol and Health Research Group in
Edinburgh, admitted last night: "The UK is the drugs capital of Europe."

The rave culture, which originated in Britain a decade ago, has been
exported to all corners of the EU, helping to make drugtaking acceptable
among a wide crosssection of young people.

Georges Estievenart, who led the EU research team, said that dance drugs
are on the increase across Europe and the stereotypical image of drug users
as dropouts on the margins of society was no longer relevant. "These drugs
are used more and more by young fairly welltodo people. They're often
students or they have jobs, but at the weekends they like to take part in
rave parties and techno concerts which involve the use of these synthetic
drugs."

The EU report found that 13 per cent of Britons admitted using cannabis in
the last year, putting it ahead of Spain (11.6 per cent), France (8.9 per
cent), Germany (8.8per cent), and Denmark (7 per cent). Some 29 per cent of
Britons under 40 had tried cannabis, a proportion only exceeded in Denmark,
where 43 per cent have experimented.

The use of "dance drugs" in Britain was unparalleled. Some 11 per cent of
under40s have used amphetamines, 4 per cent in the last year, and 4 per
cent have tried ecstasy, half of them in the last 12 months. Only Spain
comes close: 3.8 per cent have tried amphetamines, while 3.1 per cent have
used ecstasy.

Seizure figures underline the widespread availability of dance drugs. In
1995 Britain accounted for 69 per cent of all seizures of ecstasy across
the EU, 59 per cent of amphetamine seizures and 48 per cent of LSD. Britain
also seized 27 per cent of the EU's heroin haul.

Only in use of the socalled "champagne drug" cocaine does Britain lag
behind some of its European neighbours, with 3% admitting that they had
tried it, compared with 5.7% of Spaniards and 3.7% of Germans. Heroin use
is low across the EU, says the report.

The drugusing habits of British schoolchildren give even more cause for
concern. The EU found that 12% of British 15 and 16year olds had tried
LSD, compared with 4.5% in Spain, the next closest; 37 per cent of British
teenagers have tried cannabis.

These findings will be compounded by a survey of teenage drug abuse in 26
countries to be issued by Professor Plant's department on Thursday. He said
the time had come for a thorough reexamination of Britain's drugs policy.