CRIME FEARS AS LINE OF COCAINE 'COSTS LESS THAN GLASS OF WINE'

EDINBURGH is being flooded with so much cheap cocaine that a line of
the drug now costs "less than a glass of wine".

Drug workers say there is now more cocaine on the Capital's streets
than ever before.

Between April and October this year, police in Edinburgh seized more
than AUKP300,000 worth of the drug - compared with just over AUKP4000
for the same period in 2003 and AUKP25,000 last year.

The trend has sparked fears of widespread health problems and the gun
crime which is associated with cocaine and crack dealing emerging on
the Capital's streets.

Drug experts say the growing amount of seizures - which has risen
1200 per cent - is not down to a crackdown on drug dealers launched
last year, but the rising amount of cocaine which has flooded the city.

The price of a gram of cocaine on the city's streets has fallen in
the last six years from AUKP90 to just AUKP35, meaning it is no
longer the yuppie drug it was in the 80s and 90s.

Cocaine is not bought by the line, but the cost of a gram is now so
low that according to the city's anti-drugs chief Tom Wood, a line is
now "cheaper than a glass of wine".

Mr Wood, chairman of the Edinburgh Action on Alcohol and Drugs Team,
said: "It's a huge issue. People think it's a clean drug because it
doesn't involve needles. They think it's not addictive - that's untrue.

"Cocaine has long-established links with heart problems. But it is
still growing in popularity. It's seen as a showbiz drug used by
supermodels and all that is proving very alluring."

The abundance of cheap cocaine has been sparked by South American
drugs barons targeting western Europe because they believe the North
American market has been saturated.

Holland is already "awash with cocaine", said former deputy chief
constable Tom Wood and police now fear the supply is spreading to the UK.

It is feared the trend in cocaine use will see addicts seeking
greater highs turn to "speedballing" - taking cocaine and heroin at
the same time - and crack cocaine, which in cities such as London,
Nottingham and Birmingham is linked to gun crime and gang warfare.

Mr Wood said: "As we get more cocaine it is inevitable we will get
more people speedballing and turning it into crack.

"Crack cocaine is incredibly addictive. It takes six months to get
hooked on heroin, but just six uses of crack.

"It is a drug associated to a world of extreme violence. There's the
danger it would lead to gun crime in the Capital - that is something
the Scottish Drug Enforcement Agency has been very concerned about."

And there are fears the increase is set to take its toll on people's
health. Mr Wood said users have already started reporting to health
authorities complaining of heart problems.

Users are 24 times more likely to suffer a heart attack - whatever
their age - because cocaine causes the heart's muscles to contract
and ease at an alarmingly fast rate.

John Arthur, of the drugs counselling group Crew 2000, said: "There's
been a rise in cocaine use. It's now fairly ubiquitous across the city.

"The price of cocaine in Edinburgh has fallen, but if you get
addicted it is still quite easy to becoming impoverished.

"In terms of accessibility, without doubt there's more there [in
Edinburgh] now than there has ever been.

"It's still seen as a fairly glamorous drug that successful people
use, but we've got to the point where young people can afford to use
it as well."

A police spokeswoman said: "There's evidence to suggest there's more
cocaine in the force area. Certainly police have seized significant
quantities in the past year. In part this is due to better targeting
of dealers, good information from members of the public, and
proactive drugs operations."

The number of arrests for offences involving cocaine has also risen.

Between April and the end of October there were 122 arrests made by
Lothian and Borders police officers, while in the same months last
year there were 91.

THE FACTS

DESPITE its glamorous image as the champagne of the drugs world,
cocaine is a substance whose use and abuse can prove fatal.

The white Class A drug has gathered an ever-growing legion of users
over the past decade or so, with at least one in 20 people between 16
and 29 admitting to using cocaine in the past year, five times more
than in 1996.

Although most users take the drug on a purely recreational basis
every so often, about one in seven will become seriously addicted.

Cocaine users are risking a raft of potential health problems, from
chest pains to fatal heart damage. Increased blood pressure can also
lead to strokes, and facial deformity is also a problem, as
illustrated by former EastEnders actress Daniella Westbrook, who
needed plastic surgery to repair her damaged nasal cartilage.

Mental illness, stillbirth, miscarriage and suicide have also all
been associated with cocaine, with one in five people who committed
suicide in New York during the late 1980s testing positive for the drug.