Cocaine Use Rising in England as Cannabis Declines
(Update1)

By Mark Deen

Aug. 14 (Bloomberg) -- Use of cocaine and ecstasy rose in England and Wales last year as the number of people smoking cannabis declined, a government report showed.

About 2.6 percent of the adult population used cocaine at least once, up from 2.4 percent in 2006 and 0.6 percent a decade ago, the Department of Health said, citing a government survey. Cannabis use fell to 8.2 percent of adults from 8.7 percent last year and 9.5 percent in 1996.

``Whereas 10 years ago people would feel that if they used cocaine they would have crossed a line, many don't see it as a big deal any more,'' said Harry Shapiro, director of DrugScope, an anti-drug lobby group. ``It has celebrity cache. Increasing numbers are using it for ordinary going-out occasions.''

About 25.7 percent of people between the ages of 16 and 24 said they use cocaine more than once a month, according to the survey. The findings are a blow to Prime Minister Gordon Brown, whose government has attempted to crack down on drug abuse.

One of Brown's first acts as prime minister was to suggest raising penalty for possession of cannabis in the U.K., reversing a process of decriminalization that Tony Blair introduced during his term as prime minister, which ended in June 2007. Police, doctors and lawmakers are concerned that cannabis smokers are using a stronger form of the drug called skunk.

Scared Off
``People thought you'd ease the law and cannabis use would go through the roof, but the opposite has happened,'' Shapiro said. ``It may be that all this talk of stronger strains of cannabis has scared some people off.''
The number of hospital admissions where the primary diagnosis was a drug-related mental-health disorder fell 13 percent to 6,743 in 2007 from the year before. It has declined 26 percent since peaking at 9,131 in 1999.

Use of ecstasy among all adults rose to 1.8 percent of the population from 1.6 percent a year earlier, according to the statistics. Ecstasy use peaked at 2.2 percent of the population in 2002, the health department said.

Two-thirds of the 195,464 people in government treatment programs for drug abuse are addicted to heroin and methadone, while 13 percent use cannabis. Cocaine and crack users together make up 12 percent of those in treatment.

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yeah man im scared of these stronger strains of dope nevermind i will take some Es