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Youth cocaine treatment rises

2nd Mar 2010

The number of under-18s receiving treatment for cocaine addiction in England has increased by more than 65%, NHS figures reveal.

The release of the figures today coincides with the announcement by the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD) of a review into the drug's effects based on separate statistics showing that cocaine use has increased five-fold among 16- to 59-year-olds since 1996.

The NHS study, conducted by the National Treatment Agency for Substance Misuse (pdf), found that the number of 18- to 24-year-olds receiving treatment has doubled since 2005.

Three-quarters of users combined cocaine with alcohol, according to the report. Mixing causes more damage to the heart and makes users more violent.

After six months of treatment with cognitive behavioural therapy, four in 10 people were no longer addicted, but nearly a quarter had dropped out of treatment.

Last year 12,354 people were treated for cocaine addiction in England. Between 2005-06 and 2008-09 the number of under-18s in treatment rose from 453 to 745, and the number of 18- to 24-year-olds doubled from 1,586 to 3,005.

Around one in 10 adults in England and Wales now admit to having used cocaine at some point in their lifetime – a three-fold increase on 1996.

The chairman of the ACMD, Professor Les Iversen, wrote to the home secretary (pdf) citing recent British Crime Survey statistics showing that 6.6% of 16- to 24-year-olds used cocaine last year, compared with 1.3% in 1996. Usage among those aged 16 to 59 jumped from 0.6% to 3% during the same period.

Iversen wrote that the figures were deeply concerning. Along with cocaine's increased usage, the purity of samples had been decreasing because more "cutting agents" were being added. He hoped the review would "counteract the increasingly common misapprehension that cocaine is a relatively safe drug".

Iversen – whose predecessor Professor David Nutt was sacked last year for criticising government drug policy – said he did not expect the report to result in a call for a change in the classification of cocaine's existing Class A status.

The Conservatives and Liberal Democrats both called for a change in the government's approach to tackling addiction, with the shadow home office minister James Brokenshire criticising the closure of Middlegate Lodge, the country's only specialist teenage residential drug rehabilitation centre.

The Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesman, Chris Huhne, said: "Instead of posturing on penalties and ignoring scientific advice, the government should focus on educating young people about the serious health consequences of drug abuse."

A Home Office spokesman said: "Serious drug use among under-18s is declining. For the small minority of young people who need treatment, it is readily available."

He acknowledged that the trend for cocaine use had changed and said the government had introduced effective treatment, education and early intervention for those most at risk.