Cocaine use 'rising among under-24s'
Pastor Dale Morgan
Cocaine use 'rising among under-24s'*
By Nick Allen
Last Updated: 2:37am BST 26/10/2007
The proportion of young adults taking cocaine has almost doubled under
Labour, intensifying pressure on Gordon Brown to toughen up its drugs
policy.
Figures from the Home Office's British Crime Survey showed the number of
16 to 24-year-olds in England and Wales who admitted taking cocaine in
the previous year increased from 3.2 per cent in 1998 to 6.1 per cent in
2006/07.
The survey estimated that 375,000 took the drug in the 12 months to
March this year.
David Davis, the shadow home secretary, said: "These latest statistics
show that Labour continues to fail to get a grip on the drug culture in
this country. This is because their approach has been designed to ignore
the issue if possible and do the very least if forced to."
The Conservatives would set up a border police force to stem the flow of
drugs into the country and ensure tougher custodial punishments for drug
possession, he said.
Vernon Coaker, a Home Office minister, said: "Across the country we have
seen overall drug use fall since the British Crime Survey first started
measuring it in 1996 but we are not complacent and know that there is
still a lot of work to do in tackling drug misuse – especially cocaine."
Martin Barnes, chief executive of the drug information charity
DrugScope, said: "The continued use of cocaine powder, particularly
among young people, is of concern.
"We have highlighted the increased availability and affordability of
powder cocaine, a drug which has both severe health risks and the
potential for dependency."
The survey also showed that more than one in five young people, about
1.35 million, smoked cannabis during the year to March.
Cannabis was downgraded to a Class C drug three years ago, meaning users
no longer face automatic arrest and police can simply give those in
possession a formal warning instead.
Around 66,000 warnings were issued last year.
The Conservatives have pledged to reclassify it and police chiefs have
expressed concern that its current status sends mixed messages to young
people.