UK 'tops Europe for cocaine use'

Around 5% of UK adults under 35 have used cocaine in the past year

One in 10 UK adults under 35 have tried cocaine, making Britain the nation with the most users in Europe, according to a report by an EU agency.

The drug plays a role in an estimated 10% of all drugs-related deaths, said the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction.

It also found that the UK and Austria were the only EU states where heroin-related offences had not fallen.

A spokesman for the centre said use was concentrated among young men in cities.

"Survey evidence would suggest somewhere around about 5% have used it in the last year, slightly under 12% have ever used cocaine," said the agency's scientific coordinator, Paul Griffiths.

"But what we've got to remember is that this is going to be very much concentrated among young men in urban areas.

"So if you're looking within London, if you're looking within the big cities you might find far higher rates amongst the most at risk group."

But Petra Maxwell of non-governmental organisation Drugscope urged caution, saying other figures suggested cocaine use in the UK had levelled off.

In this country, certainly, growing usage has been linked in with big drops in the price of cocaine in the last 10 to 15 years Petra Maxwell, Drugscope

Since 2000 the number of cocaine users aged 16 to 59 remained around 2%, peaking at 2.4% in 2003-2004, according to the National Crime Survey.

"It certainly is still nothing to get complacent about that we have the highest cocaine use in Europe," she said.

But why the British seem to be especially prone to taking cocaine she could not say.

"In this country, certainly, growing usage has been linked in with big drops in the price of cocaine in the last 10 to 15 years."

The increasing size of cocaine seizures also indicated there was a rising market demand.

"Within the UK we now have certain age groups and professions where social usage is very widespread and not particularly frowned upon," she said.