Cocaine use on the rise in Britain

LONDON, May 26 (UPI) -- As cocaine use has increased in Britain in the past eight years, four times as many people are hospitalized for health problems linked to the drug, experts say.

On average, at least two people are hospitalized daily for "cocaine-induced health emergencies," information from the British government indicates.

Data showed the number of cocaine-related hospitalizations has gone from 161 in 1998-99 to 740 in 2006-07, The Telegraph reported Sunday.

Eighty-five percent of the hospitalizations involved men in their late 20s, the data shows.

The figures have led analysts to say cocaine is becoming the drug of choice for middle-class males.

The drug is used twice as often now by people aged 16 to 24 than it was at the beginning of the decade, Home Office data indicated.

The U.N. International Narcotics Control Board said "celebrity endorsement of drug related lifestyles'' is partially to blame for the drug's rising popularity in Europe.