Pubdate: Sun, 08 Jul 2001 Source: Sunday Times (UK) Copyright: 2001 Times Newspapers Ltd. Contact: http://www.sunday-times.co.uk/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/439 Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/coke.htm (Cocaine) CHEAP COCAINE FLOODS ESTATES COCAINE, the ultimate "success" drug, has fallen on hard times. Once the preserve of touring rock stars, footballers and City wide boys, it is becoming the drug of choice in Scotland's housing schemes, writes Carlos Alba. Ministers are alarmed by the development and have ordered an inquiry to find out who is using the drug and what damage it is doing to Scottish communities. Its increased availability is linked to a global price slump. A decade ago the average price of cocaine in Scotland was ?200 per gram. Until the late 1990s it remained at about ?100 a gram. Now the same amount can be bought for ?40. A study earlier this year by Crew 2000, an Edinburgh-based drug agency, found that among substance abusers 63% were using cocaine compared with 40% two years ago. A recent Scottish crime survey found that cocaine use among 16 to 24-year-olds had doubled in two years. The drug is traditionally associated with the rich and famous, following the well publicised addictions of celebrities like Robbie Williams and former It girl Tara Palmer-Tomkinson. Mike Cadger, project manager at Crew 2000, said: "There's a shift into cocaine use, principally among people in their early twenties from ordinary backgrounds. "Many people find it a cleaner drug than ecstasy in that they can control it much more easily." - --- MAP posted-by: Josh Sutcliffe