Cocaine death toll up 20% in a year: Fatalities from all illegal drugs at an 8-year high

Deaths from cocaine are up by a fifth in a year, figures show.

The tragic toll lays bare the lie that it is a safe, middle-class 'dinner party' drug.

Some 235 deaths were linked to cocaine last year, up from 196 in 2007. This is the fifth year in a row that the number of victims has risen.

Deaths from all illegal drugs have also hit an eight-year high in England and Wales.

Many of those dying are middle-aged, with the steepest rise among people in their 40s.

With a line of cocaine now often costing less than a glass of wine, there has been a huge increase in the number of users.

About a million Britons are thought to take the drug - up a quarter in a year.

Martin Barnes, chief executive of the charity DrugScope, said: 'Every drug-related death is a tragedy and many could have been avoided. It is extremely concerning that deaths related to illegal drugs are at their highest since 2001.

'The steady rise in deaths linked with cocaine use underlines the drug's harm at a time when use of the drug is again increasing, particularly among 16 to 24-year-olds.

'The fall in the price of the drug and evidence of its increased availability may be reasons for this increase.'

There were 1,738 deaths linked to all illegal drugs in 2008, up 8 per cent.

As well as the ready supply of cheap drugs, experts have blamed celebrity users for making cocaine appear glamorous. Government policy has also come under fire with a UN report naming Britain the cocaine capital of Europe earlier this year.

Norman Lamb, the Liberal Democrat health spokesman, said: 'These are horrifying statistics. The toll of damage from drugs is immense and the cost to the NHS is enormous.

'The Government's punitive policies and heavy-handed rhetoric on drugs are failing.

'Ministers must make sure that schools and public services work together to make sure that the message gets out that drugs kill. Ministers have been very good at talking tough when it comes to drugs, but this isn't working.

'They must urgently rethink their strategy before even more lives are lost.'

In 2004 there were 154 deaths from cocaine abuse, including crack cocaine. The latest Office for National Statistics figures show that this toll has risen by more than 50 per cent in four years. Heroin and morphine account for almost a third of all drug-related deaths.

Mr Barnes said: 'The fastest rise in drug-related deaths is among older users and heroin remains the most commonly linked substance.

'This trend could reflect the fact that the heroin using population is ageing, with fewer younger people using the drug.

'While it is right to focus on drug use among young people, the need is for public health and overdose prevention interventions across all age groups.' continues here

One million users make Britain cocaine capital of Europe - UN report

Britain is the cocaine capital of Europe with more than one million users while one in 20 school children have tried it, according to the United Nations drugs report.

Three per cent of 15 and 16 year-olds even claim to have tried crack cocaine, the report found.Cocaine is shipped here via the Caribbean or - increasingly - the west coast of Africa.

The UN Office on Drugs and Crime also found four per cent of youngsters have taken ecstasy and almost three in ten have tried cannabis.

In absolute numbers, the UK is the largest market for cocaine across Europe and has the second highest prevalence rate - 2.3 per cent - behind Spain.

However, the quality of the Class A drug has declined dramatically in recent years, which the UN attributes to a crackdown on traffickers pushing prices up and leading dealers to cut the drug more.

Some seizures by police revealed substances being passed off as cocaine that were only five per cent pure.

The UN found dealers diluting their product with cutting agents such as dental and veterinary anaesthetics that mimic the effects of cocaine but are much cheaper.

The World Drug Report 2009 revealed that cocaine use increased dramatically in the UK from the mid-90s, but remained stable over the last two years.

Dr Sandeep Chawla, lead author of the report, said: "If you take year and on year there seems to be a decline in this market but there is considerable cause for concern as the UK has still in absolute terms the largest numbers in Europe."

The report also found five per cent of 15-16 year-olds in the UK have tried cocaine.

Chris Grayling, Shadow Home Secretary, said: "This is a really depressing snap shot of the drugs problem in the UK and underlines just how ineffective the Government's strategy on dealing with the drug problem has been."

Data given to the UN by the UK's Serious Organised Crime Agency (Soca) shows wholesale prices have risen to record levels.

The cost of a kilogram of cocaine has increased by 50 per cent from £30,000 to £45,000 since 2007.

There are estimated to be 860,000 cocaine users in England and Wales and around 140,000 in Northern Ireland and Scotland combined.

The report states: "The UK thus continues to be - in absolute numbers - Europe's largest cocaine market, with its second highest cocaine use prevalence rate."

The report revealed a concentration of "problem drug users" in the capital, with around a quarter of all problem users in the UK living in London - a total of 74,000 people. continues here

Ex-England cricket star Chris Lewis 'smuggled £200,000 of cocaine into Gatwick'

In recent years both Heathrow and Gatwick Airports have been recognised as 'drugs hubs' used by Caribbean smugglers. It is estimated that almost half the cocaine sold in Britain comes from Jamaica.

Former England cricketer Chris Lewis appeared in court yesterday charged with trying to smuggle £200,000-worth of cocaine hidden in tins of fruit into Gatwick. 

Lewis, 40, played 32 tests and 53 one-day internationals as an all rounder in the Nineties and was once hailed as an heir to Ian Botham. 

He was arrested on Monday morning with basketball player Chad Kirnon, 26, after Border Agency staff allegedly found nearly 9lb of the drug in their luggage. 

The cocaine, apparently in liquid form, was allegedly discovered in a routine search just after they arrived at 6am on a Virgin flight from St Lucia in the Caribbean. 

Friends spoke of their shock at his appearance yesterday at Crawley Magistrates' Court in West Sussex, where the two were remanded in custody until next week. 

Lewis said nothing during the short hearing and was refused bail by chairman Elaine Richards due to the 'nature and seriousness' of the alleged offence and because such a 'large quantity' of the drug was said to be involved there was a risk Lewis might abscond if bailed. 

The alleged large quantity of drugs also suggested a potential link with 'international crime'. 

Lewis, who was born in Guyana, South America, was one of several all-rounders brought in to revitalise the struggling England team in the Nineties. 

But having failed to fulfil his potential, he drifted through the county game in a career that was plagued by injury. 

Yesterday it emerged that he had spent the last few years living in a housing association flat in North London after trying to resurrect his career last summer by rejoining Surrey to play Twenty20 cricket. 

Lewis - who came to Britain at ten - claimed 93 wickets during his England Test career and finished with a Test batting average of 23. 

He retired from county cricket in 2000 because of a persistent hip injury after spells with Leicestershire, Nottinghamshire and Surrey. 

Nadeem Shahid, 39, a former Surrey colleague and now coach at the county club, said: 'Chris played for us in the summer and was his normal self. 

'His work ethic was top drawer and he was determined to do well. 

'I did not feel he had any problems like money worries. He was always professional. This has come as a complete shock.'



Lewis believed he was 'driven out' of county cricket after alleging that three England team-mates had taken bribes to throw matches.

The claim was never substantiated and he was later jeered by crowds and snubbed by players before ending his career at just 32.

After drifting out of the first-class game he spent several years playing league cricket and had recently been coaching schoolchildren.

Yesterday Cherise Kirnon, 23, the sister of Lewis's co-defendant, told of her 'complete shock' over the charges faced by her brother.

Speaking from the flat in Islington, North London, where Kirnon lives with his mother Carol and 14-year- old brother Charles, she added: 'Chad just suddenly announced about ten days ago that something had come up and he was flying to the Caribbean.

'He did not say what he would be doing there or exactly where he was going. I did not know when he was due back. I cannot believe what has happened.'

Miss Kirnon, who came to Britain with her brother and their family from the Leeward Islands in the Caribbean, added that Kirnon did 'not even smoke' and that she did not know Chris Lewis.

She said: 'Chad used to play basketball for the London Towers team. He has been playing for a Somalian team recently.

'He is unemployed at the moment and was planning to do a course to become a plumber. But that was going to cost about £10,000 and he did not have that sort of money.'

Lewis and Kirnon will appear at Mid Sussex Magistrates' Court in Haywards Heath, West Sussex, via video link next Wednesday. continues here