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Cocaine use among middle-classes has doubled during Blair years
Last updated at 23:22pm on 13.10.06
A massive surge in cocaine abuse by Britain's young middle classes is driving a continuing rise in Class A drug use, latest Home Office figures reveal.
The proportion of adults who regularly snort cocaine has doubled since Labour came to power - making a nonsense of Tony Blair's anti-drugs crusade.
An estimated half a million people take the 'hardest' Class A drugs over the past year of whom 376,000 take cocaine, around 2.4 per cent of the adult population compared with 1.2 per cent in 1998.
Experts believe that plummeting street prices which have brought the once-glamorous drug within the reach of the masses, with a line of coke costing just £2.50 in some parts of the UK - less than a glass of wine or a pint of beer.
Cocaine is now the second most popular illegal drug behind cannabis, which is used by almost one in ten adults.
The figures are much worse for the 16 to 24 age group, where a quarter of people admit using an illegal drug over the past year and six per cent have snorted cocaine.
But Class A drug use is also shown to have more than doubled among those aged 35 to 44, with those living in areas of 'urban prosperity' who frequently visit pubs and clubs mainly driving the increase.
The figure are revealed in data from the British Crime Survey based on interviews and questionnaires, meaning only those prepared to admit to having a drug habit are included, and under-16s are not included.
The data shows that around two million Britons admit taking illegal drugs each month.
Home Office officials claim the rise in cocaine use has stabilised since 2000, but concede that it is still on the rise in the 35 to 44 age group.
Those who regularly go to nightclubs, wine bars and pubs are more likely to use cocaine, and in a sign of falling prices use is also higher among the unemployed than those in regular work.
Critics claim the figures show Tony Blair's anti-drugs strategy, which was launched in 1998 amid great fanfare, has failed.
Tough targets for cutting hard drug use were published and a 'Drugs Tsar' appointed, but the targets were quietly dropped and former police chief Keith Hellawell was sidelined from his position and not replaced.
