Mobile UPI  |   About UPI  |   UPI en Español  |   UPI Arabic  |   UPIU  |   My Account
Search:
Go

Cocaine use on the rise in Britain

|
|
 
  
Published: May 26, 2008 at 2:04 PM

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.

© 2008 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Any reproduction, republication, redistribution and/or modification of any UPI content is expressly prohibited without UPI's prior written consent.

Order reprints
  
Join the conversation
Most Popular Collections
Protesters, police clash at NATO summit Notable deaths of 2012 2012 Billboard Music Awards
The 137th Preakness Stakes Annual Solar eclipse occurs in U.S. Chen Guangcheng arrives in the U.S.
Additional Top News Stories
1 of 20
Vietnam Veterans Memorial Visited in Washington
View Caption
Veterans etch the names of their friends inscribed on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial on the 50th anniversary of the Vietnam War on May 26, 2012 in Washington, DC. More than 58,000 names of the servicemen who were killed or missing in the war are engraved on The Wall. UPI/Pat Benic
fark
Hi, I'm a stupid idiot. Please come rob me
Apparently there's no mandatory retirement age for burglars. w/classic mugshot
Dentistry in the UK needs reform. Unfortunately you can't just put an obvious tag in for the actual...
The Twins' infield is a very dusty place
High school wants to keep the grass down by...c) installing emus, alpacas, and sheep which will...
Photoshop this swooping cyclist