Cocaine use in Britain among highest in Europe*

By Ben Farmer
Last Updated: 2:30am GMT 23/11/2007

The number of young people using cocaine in England and Wales is among
the highest in Europe, according to a new survey.

Five per cent of 15- to 34-year-olds are estimated to have taken cocaine
in the past year, the survey reveals. Only young people in Spain are
slightly more likely to have taken the drug.

The figures were revealed yesterday by the European Monitoring Centre
for Drugs and Drug Addiction, based in Brussels.

About four and a half million Europeans are estimated to have used
cocaine in the past year, according to the report, which warned that the
drug was "a growing public health issue".

Spain also has the highest rate of cannabis use in Europe, where it is
used by 22 per cent of 15- to 34-year-olds. The figure is 16.3 per cent
in Britain - below the Czech Republic, France and Italy.

In Britain, 18 per cent of 11-year-olds and 63 per cent of 15-year-olds
said they had been offered drugs.

Marcel Reimen, the chairman of the centre, said the survey confirmed
"the growing importance of cocaine in Europe's drug problem".