HOME OFFICE REPORTS BIG RISE IN COCAINE USE AS STREET PRICE FALLS

Almost 1 Million Adults Took Drug Last Year. Survey Shows Ketamine
Popular With Under-25s

Plunging street prices and wide availability are fuelling a marked
rise in the use of cocaine in England and Wales, with nearly 1 million
users last year, 400,000 of them aged 16 to 24.

Home Office figures published today also show a big increase in the
number of young people using ketamine, an anaesthetic and horse
tranquilliser banned in Britain in 2006. Last year an estimated
125,000 young people tried this drug.

But the figures from the annual British Crime Survey's Drug Misuse
Declared show a only slight increase in cannabis use, from 7.6% to
7.9% of adults in England and Wales in 2008-09. An estimated 2.5
million adults have used cannabis in the last year, the second lowest
reported level since 1996, although it is still by far the most widely
used illicit drug.

Cannabis use among 16- to 24-year-olds fell from a peak of 28% of
young people in 1998 to 18.7% in 2008-09.

Overall drug use is seen as stable with 10% of 16- to 59-year-olds -
about 3.2 million people - reporting the use of at least one illicit
drug in the last year.

The survey suggests that the most likely profile of the frequent
illicit drug user is white, young, male, unemployed, with a household
income of less than UKP 10,000 a year - and single. The single
strongest predictor is marital status.

The Home Office says that this year's increase in class A drug use
marks a "slight underlying upward trend" that is "significant in the
long term". The increase mainly involves cocaine powder and ecstasy.
The British Crime Survey estimates that 974,000 people used cocaine
powder last year, including 437,000 people aged 16 to 24. Use of
cocaine among the younger group has risen from 5.1% to 6.6%.

There was a sharp increase in cocaine use in the late 1990s, after
which the figure levelled off at about 2% of the adult population. The
latest figures show 3% of adults now using cocaine powder.

There were 47,000 users of crack cocaine in England and Wales last
year.

Martin Barnes of DrugScope, the drug education charity, said the
figures showed a worrying increase in the use of cocaine powder.
"Whilst this is not necessarily a surprise given the drug's decrease
in price and increase in availability in recent years, it is of
significant concern, particularly the rise in use among younger people."

He said prolonged or regular use could lead to heart problems,
especially when mixed with alcohol.

Ecstasy showed a slight increase in use to an estimated 586,000 users.
By comparison, there were only an estimated 41,000 regular users of
heroin or methadone.

The Home Office minister Alan Campbell said it was encouraging that
overall drug use remained historically low and that use of the most
harmful drugs was stable. "However, we are not complacent. We are
taking comprehensive action to tackle cocaine use, from increased
enforcement to reduce the supply, along with effective treatment,
education and early intervention for those most at risk."