- Ecstasy use in the UK has exploded dramatically over
the past five years, with double the number of people taking the drug.
Ecstasy users are poised to overtake the combined number of heroin and
cocaine users.
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- A United Nations report reveals that in Britain 2.2 per
cent of the population aged 16 to 59 - 730,000 people - now take ecstasy,
compared with 1.2 per cent five years ago. More people take ecstasy as
a proportion of the population than in any other country, except Australia
and Ireland.
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- The report, by the UN's Office on Drugs and Crime, shows
that more than 120 million tonnes of ecstasy are now produced annually.
The mass production has led to a plunge in prices: an ecstasy tablet can
be bought for £3.
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- The number of Britons taking heroin has remained rela
tively static at around 300,000. Just under 500,000 use cocaine. Soon,
figures suggest, ecstasy will be more popular in the UK than cocaine and
heroin combined.
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- The report shows seizure rates for synthetic drugs such
as ecstasy and amphetamine (speed) are rising by 28 per cent a year. Heroin
is up by only 8 per cent and cocaine by 1.5 per cent. Globally, the number
of people who consume ecstasy has soared to eight million - an increase
of 70 per cent over five years. If the trend continues, global consumption
of ecstasy will exceed that of heroin, now used by nine million people,
within the next 12 months.
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- The number of people in the UK taking amphetamines has
dropped from 2.6 per cent of the population five years ago to 1.6 per cent.
Many of the users are believed to have switched to ecstasy.
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- The National Criminal Intelligence Service estimates
500,000 to two million ecstasy tablets are consumed each week in Britain.
Last week, figures published in the journal Human Psychopharmacology showed
there had been 72 ecstasy-related deaths in the UK in 2002, compared with
12 in 1996. Experts partly blamed the deaths on the falling costs of the
drug which is often taken alongside other drugs. The report shows 40 million
people worldwide take synthetic drugs such as ecstasy and amphetamine -
almost twice the number who use heroin and cocaine.
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- 'Synthetic drugs abuse begins with experimental use among
mostly young people. Gradually, it may lead to dangerous polydrug use and
addiction, with severe health consequences,' said Antonio Maria Costa,
executive director of the UN's Office on Drugs and Crime.
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- The UN report shows that between 1999 and 2001 75 per
cent of ecstasy laboratories seizures were in the Netherlands, 14 per cent
in Belgium and 6 per cent in the UK.
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- Each year around 60 ecstasy factories are seized by law
enforcement agencies in Europe. As they prioritise combating ecstasy production,
the factories move to eastern Europe where they are less closely monitored.
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- Professor John Henry of Imperial College London, a leading
narcotics expert, said: 'Though the use of ecstasy may continue to rise
along with concerns about the drug's effect on the memory, heroin and cocaine
will also be a greater concern because they have a far greater impact on
society and cost the medical profession far more. What is worrying is the
growth in dependence on amphetamine. We have a huge number of regular users
and and a significant number of deaths, yet we rarely see them presented
in medical centres.'
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- Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited
2003
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- http://www.guardian.co.uk/drugs/Story/0,2763,1051381,00.html
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