BS: Britain tops European cocaine list

Subject: BS: Britain tops European cocaine list
From: GUEST
Date: 23 Nov 06 - 01:59 PM

BRITAIN has the highest level of cocaine use in Europe with more than one in ten young adults taking the drug and a eightfold rise in death rates.

Young Britons now snort almost as much of the white powder as their American counterparts, according to figures published by European drugs watchdogs.

The European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction found that 11.6 per cent of Britons aged between 16 and 34 admit having used the drug.

In Britain, 6.8 per cent of all adults admitted they had tried it. The next highest figure is in Spain, with 4.9 per cent, followed by 4.6 per cent of Italians. The survey highlighted an increase in cocaine deaths. Figures show that they rose from 12 in 1993 to 96 in 2001. The figure is thought to have risen since, but no figures are available. Mentions of cocaine on death certificates in Britain have doubled in two years, to 171. Cocaine can contribute to death from cardiovascular problems and cerebral haemorrhages.

Subject: RE: BS: Britain tops European cocaine list
From: Strollin' Johnny
Date: 23 Nov 06 - 02:09 PM

I know more than ten young adults. None of them uses cocaine.

Subject: RE: BS: Britain tops European cocaine list
From: GUEST
Date: 23 Nov 06 - 02:12 PM

so, nine out of ten don't. But I see what you mean..a sad state of affairs.

Subject: RE: BS: Britain tops European cocaine list
From: GUEST
Date: 23 Nov 06 - 05:23 PM

A good case where statistics are meaningless. So 11% have 'tried' it. That doesn't indicate how many use it on a regular basis. I have rode a horse once. That doesn't make me a horse rider.

Subject: RE: BS: Britain tops European cocaine list
From: Linda Kelly
Date: 23 Nov 06 - 05:29 PM

I have never in all of my years many spent in pubs, been offered drugs cocaine dope or anything! I asked my nephews if they were ever offered drugs at school - nope-where do these figures come from-a sample of 10 people multiplied by six million??? Having been convinced by media and statistics that I am a cocaine and alcohol bingeing debt ridden yob-I have to say that reality feels very different.

Subject: RE: BS: Britain tops European cocaine list
From: akenaton
Date: 23 Nov 06 - 05:40 PM

Come to the West Coast of Scotland Linda. It will open your eyes.

Cocaine has now replaced Ecstasy as the "drug of choice" for young people at weekends.

Five hundred registered addicts in our catchment area, some under 12, many under 16.
One drug worker who is completely out of his depth.

Heroin addicts are "managed" by the Methadone programme.
Rehabilitation almost unheard of.

This scourge is blighting a whole generation....and nobody cares....Ake

Subject: RE: BS: Britain tops European cocaine list
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 23 Nov 06 - 05:44 PM

Statistics like this are pretty suspect, if they are based on a straight survey. Asking people whether they have tried a drug just gives you figures for what people say, not necessarily what they do.

In certain circumstances many people who haven't tried it are going to say they have, and in certain circumstances those who have taken it are going to say they haven't. Sorting out that kind of distortion would be a very complicated and demanding process.

I think it is highly unlikely that truly accurate figures on this kind of tricky subject will have been obtained by researchers in countries across Europe.

It could well be true, but building too much on this kind of survey is not justifiable.

The main danger appears to lie with dealers cutting cocaine with other substances, and that is part of the damage caused by the existing "drug control" policies which prop up the illegal drug business, and ensure that it remains so profitable.

Subject: RE: BS: Britain tops European cocaine list
From: Gervase
Date: 24 Nov 06 - 03:34 AM

Linda, it's highly unlikely that a complete stranger would offer you drugs!

I know from the youngsters I've worked with that drugs are far more popular than alcohol with some - they're cheaper, for a start, and the effects last longer.

The common Friday evening cocktail used to be Temazepam, Viagra and cocaine, topped up with a couple of Es over the evening. The kids would get the same effect as if they'd drunk eight pints of snakebite or necked the best part of a bottle of vodka, but for less money.

Es and Viagra can be had for less than a fiver each, and Mazzies for pennies. A gramme of cocaine can now be had in the South East for £50. Ten years ago it was £75. That gramme will provide maybe 10 lines - working out at £5 a line.

Ingest that lot and you'll want to pick a fight with a phone box. A couple of drinks on top and, boy, you're trouble on legs. Scary, eh?

Subject: RE: BS: Britain tops European cocaine list
From: Paul Burke
Date: 24 Nov 06 - 04:31 AM

Years ago I had a simple KEYED flute, just like the "Irish" flutes, except the 6 holes which are usually open had keys. It worked very well, and had a good loud tone. But the keys were always sticking, so I used to carry a little packet of talcum powder and some Rizlas to unstick them.

One session, I felt a key sticking, reached in the case for the talc, sprinkled a bit on a paper, and.... "Oi sonny, I'm a police officer..."

He took quite a bit of convincing.

So now you know. If you like your cocaine warm and flat, come to Britain!

Subject: RE: BS: Britain tops European cocaine list
From: Strollin' Johnny
Date: 24 Nov 06 - 05:40 AM

Ake, not denying it's there, as I've said earlier, and gone into in very great (and far too painful) detail in other threads, I have very good reason to know all about the drug scene - and I do mean ALL!

Just saying that broad statements like '1 in 10 kids do cocaine' are meaningless per se, they need to be backed up with other information which qualifies that statement - e.g. sample size, demographics etc. etc.

Subject: RE: BS: Britain tops European cocaine list
From: ard mhacha
Date: 24 Nov 06 - 06:08 AM

Instead of being critical of the survey, it should be viewed with alarm.
An estimated £5.9bn a year is spent on illegal drugs, two-fifths of the amount spent on alcohol.

According to the European Monitoring Survey, cocaine use in Britain doubled between 1998 and 2001 and is now the second most popular drug, and you can be sure there will be no downward trend in the use of cocaine, whenever the next survey is made.

Subject: RE: BS: Britain tops European cocaine list
From: GUEST
Date: 24 Nov 06 - 06:41 AM

TEN British soldiers a week are caught taking Class A drugs, including heroin and crack cocaine, shocking new figures obtained by our local paper Scotland on Sunday.

The number of busts for hard drugs within the British army has doubled in two years and now easily exceeds positive tests for cannabis.
        

Almost 1,000 soldiers were caught by random drug tests last year, in what some experts claim is a clear sign of troops suffering plummeting morale and mounting pressure.

Figures released by the Ministry of Defence show that 520 soldiers tested positive for Class A drugs in 2005, massively up on the 350 recorded the previous year and double the 260 caught in 2003.

Over the same two-year period, the number of soldiers testing positive for Class C drugs, such as cannabis, has risen from 340 to 460.

The rising toll of positive drug tests - 980 in 2005 - is pushing the army's policy of compulsory expulsion to the limit. The campaigns in Iraq and Afghanistan are already causing considerable strain on British forces, and the MoD cannot afford to dismiss so many soldiers for taking illegal drugs.

The defence minister claims those who test positive "are almost always discharged", although the army has an Early Intervention Programme (EIP) designed to re-educate offenders.

But this newspaper has established that at least 14 young recruits have been caught taking drugs again after going through EIP schemes designed to keep them in the service.

The defence Secretary is now under intense pressure to bring the drug abuse problem under control.

This is a reflection of a general problem within society.
We need to find out whether there is anything within the culture of the military behind this disturbing rise.

I have no doubt the army have a robust anti-drugs policy, based on prevention, detection and disciplinary or administrative action.


Compulsory drug testing is a part of the approach, by providing an active deterrent to drug-taking. The army tests 85% of the force annually for all controlled drugs and those caught are almost always discharged.

Two years ago I read in Scotland on Sunday that Scottish infantry regiments had the worst record for drug abuse in the British army, and were four times more likely to fail tests for heroin, cocaine and other illegal substances than the military average.

All the units with the worst records traditionally recruited from inner-city areas, including Glasgow, Manchester and Liverpool.

The latest figures show that, across all the army regiments in the country over the past five years, the tests found that 2,010 had taken Class A drugs, 2,340 Class C, and 230 Class B substances. Of the 89,000 tests in 2005, one in 87 proved positive.

The worst offenders were the Royal Logistic Corps, which recorded 380 drug-test failures during the five-year period, 70 of them in 2005. Members of the Royal Artillery failed 325 tests altogether. Forty of the failures were reservists with the Territorial Army.

The renewed evidence of high rates of drug-taking in the services comes amid long-running concerns that the stresses of warfare are turning many young recruits towards illegal substances. American defence chiefs have reported historically high rates of suicide among personnel who have fought in Iraq, and studies have suggested many returning troops have severe problems with stress and substance abuse.


But the MoD is now planning to expand its drug rehabilitation programmes for those service personnel who escape the ultimate sanction. I feel it can't happen soon enough.