Rapid Rise In Cocaine Use Aided By Two-Tier Prices

A two-tier market in luxury and cut-price cocaine is developing in Britain, according to an annual survey by drug charities.

Feedback from 80 drug services, police forces and drug action teams in 20 towns and cities shows that the rapid expansion in the use of the drug is being fuelled by street dealers selling cheaper, low-grade cocaine to teenagers, pub users and those on low incomes to mix with other drugs.

This cut-price cocaine – at around £30 a gram – is reported to be available in virtually every part of Britain, while more affluent customers are being offered much higher quality cocaine at £50 a gram.

The DrugScope 2007 survey reports that in Birmingham individual dealers are offering their customers a choice of two grades of cocaine – “commercialised” at £30 a gram and “Peruvian” at £50 a gram. In Nottingham a higher-quality form of cocaine is known as “rocket fuel”.

The rapid growth in cut-price cocaine is reflected in new figures from the National Treatment Agency which show that the number of people going into treatment with cocaine as their main problem drug has nearly doubled, from 4,474 in 2003-04 to 8,609 in 2005-06. The number of teenagers in treatment for cocaine in the last two years has risen from 231 to 471.

The DrugScope survey says that over the past decade there has been a shift in the position of cocaine in the UK drug economy, with its use no longer restricted to the rich, although it has not completely lost its glamorous associations of the past.

Many users appear unconcerned about its class A criminal status or its serious health risks of heart problems, mental ill health and potential for dependency.

The charity says it is an urban myth that cocaine is cut with talcum powder or rat poison, and the most common chemicals used are a pain reliever usually found in mouth ointment and a local anaesthetic used by dentists. Bargain basement cocaine is far less pure than a decade ago, at around 30%.

The annual survey also shows that a similar two-tier market is developing for ecstasy, with cut-price pills selling for as little as £2.40 and most commonly sold in batches of up to five for £10.

Often these cut-price pills will not contain any MDMA – the active ingredient for ecstasy – but instead are made from amphetamine base, while those drug users willing to pay a premium for crystal or powder MDMA are being charged an average price of £38 a gram.

The street price survey says that standard quality herbal cannabis sells for £87 an ounce, with resin cannabis at £55 an ounce. Heroin sells at £10 for a 0.15 gram bag, or £43 a gram.

Martin Barnes, chief executive of DrugScope, said the government’s strategy of concentrating on tackling use of heroin and crack cocaine was not necessarily the right response. “We are concerned that we may be entering a new era of problem drug use relating less to heroin and crack and more to the misuse of alcohol, cocaine, cannabis and ecstasy. The longer-term public health impacts of such a shift should not be underestimated,” he said.

Drug market

Average street prices 2007 (2006)

Herbal cannabis (standard quality) £87 an ounce (£70)

Herbal cannabis (good quality): £134 an ounce (£121)

Resin cannabis £55 an ounce (£54)

Heroin £43 a gram (£46)

Cocaine £43 a gram (£43)

Ecstasy £2.40 a pill (£3)

Crystal powder MDMA £38 a gram (£40)

Amphetamine £9.80 a gram (£9.70)

Ketamine £25 a gram (£28)

Source: DrugScope