Cocaine overdose hospital admissions rise 400 per cent in just four years

The number of drug users being admitted to hospital with cocaine overdoses is four times higher than it was eight years ago, new figures reveal.

Just 161 people were admitted to hospital in England for cocaine-related emergencies in 1999.

But 740 users needed treatment in 2007, most of them men and with an average age of 29 years, according to the magazine Druglink.

Among hospitals that have seen a huge rise in cocaine poisonings is St Thomas's Hospital in Lambeth, South London.

It dealt with 138 cocaine-related cases between April 2006 and March 2007.

In the second half of last year alone, the hospital treated 121 patients in its Accident and Emergency department in connection with cocaine use.

Drug use in the UK is at an 11-year low but cocaine abuse has been on the increase since 1998.

While use of most drugs has remained stable, the proportion of adults who admitted using cocaine has risen from 1.2 per cent ten years ago to 2.6 per cent last year.

Campaigners said last night that celebrity figures such as Amy Winehouse made the drug look 'cool' among wealthy young professionals but the health dangers include heart attacks and strokes.

Almost 200 Britons a year are killed by the class A drug.

Models Nina Campbell and Kate Moss, along with former Eastenders actress Danniella Westbrook - who had to have her nose rebuilt - are among those who have been treated for addiction.

A survey found one in three young men attending A&E at a London hospital with suspected heart attacks were cocaine users.

However, experts believe it causes more deaths than appear in official statistics because it may not be acknowledged as being involved in a heart attack or a stroke.

Druglink editor Max Daly said 'Cocaine use constricts blood vessels and can result in a rise in body temperature, burst blood vessels and, in extreme cases, death from brain seizures, heart failure and respiratory problems.'

Tony D'Agostino, a leading expert on cocaine use, said 'This provides yet another warning to the government that it must spend money on an awareness campaign and on special health services if it is serious about tackling the dangers of cocaine use.'

As cocaine poisonings have risen, cannabis poisonings dipped from 171 in 1999 to 96 last year and heroin overdoses also slumped from 1,962 in 1999 to 1,530 in 2007.

Mary Brett, spokesman for Europe Against Drugs, said celebrity users of cocaine sent out the wrong message.

She said 'We were supposed to see cocaine use being targeted as a class A drug, instead it's going through the roof.

'Young people think it's cool to use cocaine, that it's a safe recreational drug but it can have dramatic effects on the body and cause psychosis.

'We need more health campaigns and some way of getting the message through that celebrities are not role models, they can afford the rehab unlike some of those who get addicted.'

Norman Lamb MP, Lib Dem shadow health secretary, said 'These  figures highlight an epidemic in hard drug use, which will  have grave consequences for the NHS.

'Years of casual celebrity endorsement has led to cocaine being seen as a fun thing to do on a Saturday night when in reality it puts users at severe  risk of overdose, which can lead to death.

'A and E wards are having to cope with the increasing strain and are not able to offer the immediate support services which many hard drug users need.'