SCOTLAND'S CRACK COCAINE RISE ON EPIDEMIC SCALE

CRACK and cocaine use has increased five-fold in the past year and Scotland
may already be at the beginning of an epidemic similar to America's, new
research revealed yesterday.

A Glasgow University study was released as police in Scotland reported
record seizures of cocaine and as experts south of the border warned the
use of crack is spiralling out of control. Crack, a form of cocaine, is
highly addictive.

The report warned that drug services may not be able to cope.

Commenting on the 68% increase in cocaine seizures by Scottish police, Jack
McConnell, the first minister, said it was a "modern-day plague" and warned
drugs were a very serious threat to Scottish society.

Experts say Scotland may shortly face a similar situation to the US where
crack cocaine misuse caused unprecedented social and economic destruction.

Professor Neil McKeganey, of Glasgow University's Centre for Drug Misuse
Research, said the impact of an epidemic would be "very substantial". He
said: "We are now well into a pattern of much wider use of crack and
cocaine than ever before and one of the most worrying aspects is that this
is not confined to our cities. It takes about three years to really feel
the effect but we only have to look to the US to see what happened there."

Glasgow University re-searchers found that use of cocaine and crack among
addicts has risen from around 5% last year to more than a quarter this
year. "We have never seen an increase like this before," the professor said.

The new report, Drug Outcome Research in Scotland (Doris) Preliminary
Findings on Cocaine and Crack Use, is based on a study of more than 500
drug users, from urban and rural areas, who came forward seeking help. It
found crack and cocaine users account for one in four of new drug agency
clients and one in 10 had taken both drugs.

The report concludes: "These more recent data from Doris indicate much
higher levels of cocaine and crack use, supporting the contention that the
use of cocaine and crack is rising at an alarming rate in Scotland."

It says that there is little evidence that drug services in Scotland
currently offer any specialist support to crack and cocaine users and may
be unable to cope with an epidemic.

Dr Joanne Neale, author of the report, said: "This has been threatening to
happen for the past 13 years."

She warned the problem may be much more widespread than the report
suggested. The study looked only at drug addicts seeking help and there is
some evidence that crack is on the increase among clubbers and students.
Professional people are thought to be taking cocaine in increasing quantities.

The report says anecdotal evidence suggests there are large numbers of
so-called recreational cocaine users in Scotland. Mickey McMonagle, the
editor of dance magazine, M8, said that many more people were using cocaine
recreationally because the quality of the drug, ecstacy, was so poor.

A spokeswoman for drugs support agency, Turning Point, said the use of
crack and cocaine made people extremely aggressive.

The figures released by the Scottish Drug Enforcement Agency revealed a 35%
increase in the number of arrests as well as the 68% rise in the number of
drug seizures. Jim Orr, of the SDEA, said that hauls of cocaine, along with
heroin, had almost trebled in the agency's second year of operation.

At a conference in England, where ministers were warned the use of crack
cocaine was spiralling out of control, drug workers said drugs should be
legalised to pass control from criminals to the health authorities.