A NEW LINE ON COKE

WHEN the BBC's Ashes To Ashes crashed garishly onto our screens this
month, it brought back more than just some dodgy 1980s fashion and
even dodgier music.

The show also revived the classic image of the cocaine user: a
well-paid, well-dressed 20-something taking time out from a busy and
successful career to snort a few lines for kicks. It is a stereotype
that largely persists, even without the reminder of a bit of retro
TV.

As this newspaper reveals today, the reality of cocaine use in 2008 is
very different. You don't have to be rich to afford the so-called
"champagne" drug - after record harvests in South America a line of
coke can cost as little as UKP5. You don't have to work in London or any
of Scotland's cities to get your hands on it either - we have the
third highest use of cocaine in Europe and police say it is available
on the streets of most towns and villages. Most concerning of all, you
certainly don't have to be an adult to know where to get it and how to
use it.

In fact, the latest research suggests that one in 10 Scots in their
mid to late teens are taking cocaine. As such, they are probably the
biggest single group of clients for the drug dealers who blight our
society. Drug workers say that the trend is for groups of teens to
pool their money to buy a gram of cocaine for about UKP50. They then
divide it into 10 or so lines. So far, so worrying - but there's more.
The young thrill seekers combine the cocaine with alcohol, the former
off-setting the depressant qualities of the booze, which lets them
drink more. This, in turn, poses obvious health risks to the users, as
well as increasing the chances they will harm themselves or others.

Of course, young people have always been inclined to experiment with
drink and drugs. It is perhaps inevitable that many, having seen
cocaine glamorised by celebrity users and in films and TV, want to try
it for themselves now that they can afford it. But this latest trend
is not mere dabbling. It represents a clear effort to get as high as
possible for as long as possible, regardless of the consequences. As
such, it fits in with other concerns, such as underage binge drinking,
which has contributed to a string of deaths and assaults, and which,
doctors have warned, has led to people in their 20s presenting with
liver failure.

This is all terrifying for parents, of course. But it is too easy to
use these facts as yet another excuse to demonise our young people.
Worrying though the latest figures are, they in fact show that the
vast majority of kids are not taking cocaine. The most recent Scottish
Schools Adolescent Lifestyle and Substance Survey, in 2006, found that
79% of 15-year-olds had never taken drugs, even "softer" ones such as
cannabis. Although you wouldn't know it from the views of some
commentators, most kids are also not mugging pensioners, shoplifting
or even congregating on street corners. And yet society brackets "the
youth of today" as hoodie-wearing troublemakers who pose such a threat
that they must be driven away by ultrasonic devices that assault their
ears.

It is time to recognise that most young people are decent people - and
treat them accordingly. The new trend in cocaine use must be viewed in
this context, not as a stick with which to beat a whole generation of
Scots, but as a health issue which must be tackled for the sake of the
individuals involved. As with alcohol and smoking, this can only be
done through education.

Of course, the police must do all they can to stop drugs getting onto
our streets, but we have to accept that some will always get through
and that young people in particular will be curious to try them. So
let's tell them exactly what the effect may be on their bodies: the
racing heartbeat that can lead to cardiac arrest or stroke; the risk
of kidney failure; the corrosive effect that can destroy nostrils.
And, most of all, we must make it clear that the belief that cocaine
is not addictive is a myth.

This can only take place in schools, but even there the message will
only get across if we treat our teenagers as young adults rather than
as kids. This approach is the only way to stop teenagers doing
anything we don't approve of. We can only hope that, armed with the
knowledge they need, they themselves then choose to do the right thing.