Capital's drugs 'purer'

Heroin is often "cut" with other substances

Heroin bought in Edinburgh is likely to be much purer than anywhere else in the UK, according to a new survey on drug use.

Undercover research by The Observer newspaper found that the purity of heroin in the Scottish capital was almost double the British average.

The findings pointed to the danger of using drugs of unknown quality, potentially leading to overdose by users familiar with less pure drugs.

A journalist from the paper was given the task of finding illegal drugs in Edinburgh, Bristol and Cardiff.

The substances were then sent to a forensic lab for purity analysis:

• In Cardiff heroin contained only 2% of the active ingredient.

• The Edinburgh figure was 9O%.

• Cocaine purchased in Edinburgh was 8O% pure, compared with just 0.6% in Bristol.

The tests revealed that the remainder of the contents were made up of substances like brick dust, food dye, stone, glass, and talcum powder.

Research for the paper also revealed more than a quarter of adults in Britain have taken illegal drugs.

The survey suggests people are relaxed about cannabis

The study suggested that 13 million adults - 28% of the adult population - have used drugs including cannabis and ecstasy.

It also revealed that two million people say they took drugs while under the age of 14 and more than half of 16 to 24-year-olds have tried illegal substances.

Roger Howard, chief executive of Drugscope, said the findings did not surprise him.

"The threat of criminal sanctions is simply not stopping large numbers of young people experimenting with drugs," he told the paper.

The survey of 1,075 adults by ICM for The Observer, was said to be weighted to reflect the general adult population and also found that more people now believe tobacco is a "greater risk" than ecstasy.

The survey suggested that more than five million people regularly used cannabis, 2.4 million ecstasy and two million amphetamines and cocaine.

Men are twice as likely as women to have taken drugs, with the majority saying cannabis was their drug of choice.

The survey also found that 35% thought cannabis should be decriminalised, 7% said ecstasy should be made legal, but only 4% thought all drugs should be freely available.