COCAINE USE SOARS IN BRITAIN

Cocaine has become Britain's fastest growing "recreational" drug among
20-years-olds, according to results published yesterday by the British
Crime Survey.

For the first time, the survey, which is based on interviews with
10,000 people, shows that a majority of the population - 52 % - says
they have experimented with illegal drugs at least once. The number of
20-24 year olds who admit using cocaine in the last year has more than
doubled.

The findings on cocaine underline why drugs education campaigners have
recently turned to campaigns such as "Charlie canes yer wallet" in an
effort to stem the growing use of the drug.

The Home Office survey also reveals that smoking cannabis continues to
prove extremely popular with the young, with an increase from 25% to
29% between 1996 and 1998 of those under 30 who say they have used it
in the last year.

The BCS found that the use of heroin and crack is extremely rare, but
this contrasts with the results of a second Home Office study
published yesterday which looked at the patterns of drug abuse among
schoolchildren in Northumbria and West Yorkshire.

This showed that 2% of 13 to 14-year-olds in Northumbria had tried
heroin, as had 3% of 15 to 16-year-olds in West Yorkshire.

The official survey confirms that drug abuse is relatively uncommon
among adults and is generally confined to a short period of
experimentation in the mid to late-teens.

Men are almost twice as likely to have used illegal drugs in the last
year or month than women. Single people of all ages, including those
divorced, have higher rates of drug use than those who are married and
responsible for children.

The researchers are seriously concerned by the sharp spread in cocaine
use in the last three years. They say that while heroin, crack and
methadone remain largely taboo, cocaine has lost its social stigma, is
not seen to be physically addictive in the same way as heroin, and is
not usually injected - at least not by novices.

Researchers say its popular ity also stems from the fact that unlike
other drugs it can be used with alcohol and from the recent sharp fall
in its price, by half, to as little as pounds 40 a gram in some parts
of the country.

Cocaine's new popularity is particularly strong amongst those aged 20
to 24; 9% of those asked in 1998 said they had used it, as against 6%
in 1996. Those admitting using it in the last year rose from 2% to
5%.

The Home Office researchers say those who tend to use drugs most are
the very rich, the very poor and a small group living in what they
term "rising areas" - prosperous professionals and better-off
executives living in the inner cities. The latter have the highest
levels of clubbing and pubbing and double the average personal
consumption levels of illicit drugs.

The survey says that the growth in the popularity of cocaine has so
far been confined to London, Merseyside and the south of England, but
it warns it could become more widespread.But having said that, cocaine
consumption across England and Wales remains much lower than that
found in American cities over the past 20 years.

Mike Goodman, director of Release, the national drug advice line, said
he was surprised by the extent of the growth of cocaine, but he
confirmed that there had been a distinct rise in the use of cocaine in
clubs which had coincided with a boom in champagne sales at the same
venue.

"It's all linked to lifestyle," he said. "People have got more money,
cocaine is cheaper. You can get it for pounds 40 a gram which people
will club together and buy to share between them on a Saturday night."

DRUG USE

Percentages of those aged 16-29 who have taken the following
drugs:

Cannabis: 42
Amphetamine: 20
Poppers: 16
LSD: 11
Magic mushrooms: 10
Ecstasy: 10
Glue etc: 6
Cocaine: 6
Temazepan etc: 3
Anything else: 2
Crack: 1
Methadone: 1