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UK: English Children Top Cannabis Experiment Table
David Barrett, PA Home Affairs Correspondent PA News
Thursday 25 Nov 2004 More schoolchildren in England have experimented with cannabis than in any other country in Europe, a new report said today. The European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA) also said the UK had the joint highest number of cocaine users, alongside Spain. Between 5% and 7% of people aged 15 to 24 in the UK and Spain admitted to using cocaine recently, with levels in towns and cities likely to be 'substantially higher', it said. The report by the Lisbon-based agency estimated up to three million people in the EU use marijuana on a daily basis. It said 42% of boys and 38% of girls aged 15 in England had tried cannabis, compared with less than 10% in Greece, Malta, Sweden and Norway. England also had the highest number of 15-year-olds who were heavy dope users - defined as using the drug on 40 or more occasions a year. Just over 10% of 15-year-old English boys reported heavy use of cannabis, compared with the next-biggest group of about 7% in Spain and Belgium. Figures for Welsh and Scottish boys were lower than in England - about 5% and 6.6% respectively. On cannabis trends in the EU, the report said: 'There is concern that a small but significant group, of predominantly young men, are now using the drug more intensively and that numbers of those doing so may be growing. 'The EMCDDA offers a crude estimate that there may be up to three million daily cannabis users across the EU.' EMCDDA director Georges Estievenart said: We have established that regular cannabis use is rising. Stressing that more research was needed on the health problems of marijuana users, he added: 'We know from clinical studies that cannabis users can experience acute and chronic health problems, while others experimenting with the drug do not appear to experience any long-term harm.' There was also 'growing concern' about the use of crack cocaine in a number of cities in the UK, Germany, Spain, France and the Netherlands, the report added. Other shock figures in the study of the drug situation in the 25 EU member states included: The number of mentions of cocaine on death certificates in the UK increased eightfold between 1993 and 2001. Cannabis use among the 15 to 34 age group is highest - more than 35% - in the UK, Denmark, Spain and France. The UK is among the top five countries for 'problem drug users', reporting six to 10 cases for every 1,000 adults, along with Denmark, Italy, Luxembourg and Portugal. After heroin, cannabis is the drug for which the largest number of people seek treatment. Across the EU, 45% of people seeking treatment for cannabis are still in education and 24% are in work. On the chemicals used by drug dealers to adulterate their products, the report added: 'There are new concerns that 'cutting agents' used in preparing cocaine can pose added health risks. 'One example is phenacetine - a relatively common adulterant in cocaine powder - which has been linked to cancer and disorder of the liver, kidneys and blood.' Home Office minister Caroline Flint said: 'This report is based on two year old data and does not reflect current levels of drug misuse in the UK. 'More recent trends have seen a steady fall in the use of cannabis, amphetamines and, more recently, ecstasy. 'The British Crime Survey shows that amphetamine use by 16- to 24-year-olds has fallen by 60% in the last five years, cannabis use has declined from 28.2% in 1998 to 24.8% today and crack and cocaine use has stabilised. 'We are not complacent about the drugs situation in Britain. 'Drug use is still too high and we are planning new legislation aimed at getting more users into treatment - including testing on arrest - and strengthening police powers to tackle drug dealers. 'This will build on the unprecedented resources the Government has invested in taking action against drugs and the harm they cause individuals and communities. 'We have already made progress - 54% more users are now in treatment compared with 1998 and drug-related deaths are at their lowest levels in six years.' Earlier this year the EMCDDA published a report which said there was little evidence that cannabis joints in the UK or across Europe had increased in size or strength over the last 25 years.
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