COCAINE REPLACES MULLED WINE AT AUSTRIAN SKI RESORTS AS DRUG USE RISES

Austrian police have been swamped with the wrong kind of snow at ski
resorts this winter, with lines of cocaine replacing mulled wine at
chalet parties.

This Christmas has been whiter than usual. Police say that cocaine and
Ecstasy consumption at the bars of apres-ski establishments has risen
steeply at premium winter resorts, with recorded drug offences rising
60 per cent in some areas popular with British tourists.

Police say that even ski instructors and bartenders are turning into
part-time drug-dealers at the peak of the season.

"It has become normal to get not only drinks but also cocaine right
there at the bars of the establishments," Major Christian
Voggenberger, of the Salzburg criminal police, said. According to him,
the worst-affected hot-spots are Obertauern and other popular ski
resorts around Salzburg.

Obertauern, one of Europe's top resorts, has a glitzy reputation
dating back to 1965, when the Beatles travelled there to make their
film Help!.

Today it is advertised as a family resort, but its slogan, "It's
Snowtime", could assume an entirely new meaning as snorting cocaine
seems to be replacing alcohol to combat the cold.

Similar trends are being seen in other regions.

In the Tyrol, where drug-related offences quadruple during the winter
holiday season, internet forums aimed at skiers and snowboarders make
no secret of the illicit goings-on at the resorts.

Faced with rising drug crime, Austrian police are deploying special
investigators during the ski season to sniff out part-time dealers.
"One needs to react quite quickly. When someone only appears in a ski
resort two or three times, there are obviously not many opportunities
to catch them while they smuggle narcotics," Major Voggenberger said.

Officials in the tourist trade, whose livelihood depends on the
resorts' pristine reputation, have sought to play down the seriousness
of the cocaine scourge on the piste.

"I don't know any colleagues working in gastronomy who are drug
dealers. It would be better if we all focused on the real snow,"
Walter Veith, the head of the Salzburg hoteliers' association said.

The association of ski instructors also protested, insisting that the
police were speaking of "isolated cases".

After a public outcry, Major Voggenberger was reportedly disciplined
for his comments, while his superior, Commander Ernst Kroll, suggested
that drug crime was a problem of society and not related to tourism.
"People are bored and have money. The drug rings are like a hydra, you
cut off one head and another springs up," he said.

The habit is not unique to Austria, and seems to be spreading across
the Alps.

In neighbouring Switzerland, authorities also reported an increase in
the use of cocaine by international tourists in resorts such as the
famed southern Alpine retreat of St Moritz.