ECSTASY AS CHEAP AS A BAR OF CHOCOLATE FOR CHILDREN

The price of the drug ecstasy has fallen to a record low of UKP1.25 for
a tab - about the same as a medium-sized bar of chocolate.

New statistics show that the cost of the drug has more than halved
across the country. The average street price is now UKP3 for a tablet
compared with UKP6.24 last year.

However, in certain parts of the country dealers have dropped their
prices even lower to just over UKP1, especially in the north west of
England.

The alarming drop in the cost of the drug is already fuelling concerns
that the drug is becoming increasingly accessible to young people,
especially children. Dealers have drastically reduced their ecstasy
prices in an attempt to get children on to "E" as what used to be
known as a "dance drug" declines in popularity among club-goers.

The new figures come from the Independent Drug Monitoring Unit which
produces statistics on which the Government bases its drugs policy.
They will be officially released in January next year when the IDMU
publishes its latest statistics on the street price of illegal drugs
including ecstasy, cocaine and heroin.

Last week the Government released statistics that revealed illegal
drug taking among children has nearly doubled in four years. The
Department of Health survey said 6 per cent of 11-year-olds in England
and Wales had taken drugs last year compared with only 1 per cent in
1997.

There has also been a spate of deaths and incidents recently involving
young people and children taking ecstasy. A three-year-old child from
Islington, north London, was taken to hospital after swallowing an
ecstasy pill last week. Police are still investigating the death of
Jade Slack, 10, who died after taking up to five tablets in Lancashire.