BRITAIN FACING COCAINE CRISIS

Britain is on the brink of a cocaine epidemic as cheaper, purer powder
floods into the country and prices plummet, according to unpublished
Home Office figures. With the social stigma attached to taking cocaine
diminishing, more people - and from across a broader cross-section of
the population - are using the drug recreationally.

'It would be wrong to say there is an epidemic,' said a senior Home
Office scientist. 'But we may well be seeing the beginning of
something very significant.'

Data collected by the Home Office reveal:

* a sharp increase in arrests for cocaine possession, from 3,400
cases in 1997 to 4,500 cases last year;

* higher purity levels of cocaine seized on the street, with levels
running at 63 per cent in the second quarter of 1999 - the highest on
record, and up from 51 per cent at the end of last year;

* an increase in the average purity levels of cocaine seized by
Customs at the border. In the last few months purity levels have been
at 75 per cent, the highest on record;

* a significant jump in use of cocaine reported to the authorities
by users themselves, according to the British Crime Survey published
later this month;

* a rise in the proportion of people arrested with traces of cocaine
or crack in their urine, with more than one in 10 arrestees testing
positive;

* bigger hauls by Customs and Excise, with more than 3,000 kilos
seized in 1998/9, up from 2,300 kilos the previous year.

Mike Goodman, director of Release, a drug legal advice service, said
there had been a clear change in the use of cocaine.

'It is cheaper and more easily available, and attitudes have changed:
its image as a potentially harmful drug is being eroded,' he said. 'It
is not just high-rollers any more; groups of hairdressers are getting
together to buy a couple of grammes for the weekend.'

With the price per gramme down to about pounds 50 - almost half the
going rate five years ago - cocaine has become a reliable 'clubber
upper' and dealers are offering pounds 20 half-gramme 'specials'.

Goodman said cocaine was losing its exclusive status. 'It was always
seen as something of a champagne drug, and the price reinforced that,'
he said. 'Now that drugs are seen less as coming from the
counter-culture, cocaine fits with the lifestyle of the lager
drinkers, the guys in the sharp suits.'

'Most people taking cocaine powder seem to be occasional, recreational
users and suffer few health problems as a result,' said one Department
of Health official. This is in stark contrast to those who smoke
'crack' - which is much more addictive and damaging.

Harry Shapiro, from the Institute for the Study of Drug Dependence,
agreed that there were limited signs of increased addiction or health
problems. 'Given these levels of use, and the amount of cocaine coming
in, it is striking that the number of people presenting with addiction
or other problems has not risen significantly - which suggests a lot
of the use is non-problematic,' he said. 'More people are perhaps
prepared to experiment with cocaine than they were,' he said.

But Goodman warned that for some people, even cocaine powder could
cause medical problems, ranging from depression to paranoia - and that
cocaine powder could be a 'gateway' to crack or heroin.

'For a lot of people it is a weekend drug, and for most it probably is
not a problem,' he said. 'But there will be some who binge at the
weekend, and then get down, get the blues - then they might want more,
and it can become compulsive even if it is not actually addictive. For
a few it might be a step on the way to harder drugs.'