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Britons Branded Cocaine Kings of Europe
Key Points
• UK cocaine use approaching US levels as cocaine-deaths increase eightfold
• Amount of cocaine used overtakes ecstasy and speed among drug users
• 6.8% of Britons admit to cocaine use; 38 people died in Scotland last year

The class A substance is fast becoming the drug of choice for Britain's youth and its use is approaching levels found in the United States.   Its easy accessibility has resulted in an eight-fold increase in cocaine deaths in the UK between 1993 and 2001. Mentions of cocaine on death certificates in Britain rose from 85 in 2000 to 171 in 2002.

According to figures released by the Registrar General for Scotland, there were 38 deaths as a result of cocaine last year, up significantly on recent years.   The UK also had the highest proportion of cocaine users in the 15 to 34 age group - 11.6 per cent compared with 7.7 per cent in Spain.

"We have seen a marked increase in cocaine, especially crack cocaine, over the last four years to the extent that a number of bars and clubs are spraying WD40 on their cisterns to stop people using them to snort the drug" - Peter Anderson, Streetwork UK support team manager