City police set to fight rise in crack cocaine use

POLICE chiefs today pledged to continue their battle against the trade of crack cocaine as it emerged the use of the drug is on the rise.

The number of drug users taking the highly-addictive substance is thought to have increased as heroin addicts turn to it for a longer and better high.

The city's street prostitutes are also mixing the two class A drugs, dramatically increasing the cost of their habits.

Figures released for 2005/06 showed that only 0.05kg of crack had been seized by Lothian and Borders Police in a year.

But by last year, the amount had increased by 12 times to 0.6kg, although it was still massively outweighed by the 17.2kg of cocaine confiscated in the force area.

The quantity of cocaine seized more than doubled during 2006/07, while the price of a gram has dropped from £90 to just £35 in just six years. Figures from NHS Lothian also revealed that 126 crack users sought drug rehabilitation in the 12 months ending in March last year.

The falling price of cocaine has also led to crack being smoked by more recreational drug users.

John Arthur, manager of the Edinburgh-based Crew 2000 drug support agency, said: "The rise in crack cocaine usage is not surprising because we've seen a massive increase in cocaine use everywhere. With cocaine becoming cheaper and more widely available, it's inevitable that some will choose to use the drug in its smokeable form, which is crack.

"The number of recreational drug users taking crack has risen along with cocaine use, although not as greatly. We've found that it's heroin users who are smoking crack in combination, either because they say it gives a better hit by mixing an upper and a downer, or because it makes the 'crash' effect easier."

Last month, a 28-year-old prostitute working in the Leith area told the Evening News she was forced to sell sex on the streets after building up a £1000 debt to a crack dealer. She now uses the drug along with heroin, which she has been addicted to for 11 years.

Crack seizure numbers went from two to 15 between 2005/6 and 2006/7. Cocaine seizures also rose, from 167 to 284, but heroin seizures fell from 476 to 411.

Police chiefs acknowledged the growing volume of crack seizures and pledged to tackle the traffickers and dealers peddling the drug.

A police spokesman said: "The force treats the possession and supply of illicit substances extremely seriously, and the intelligence-led approach we take towards the problem has yielded positive results in recent years.

"The rising number of class A seizures, including crack cocaine, proves our commitment to tackling the scourge of drugs in local communities.

"We will continue to work with local communities to make sure that we continue to gather intelligence on drug-dealing activity, and we urge anyone who suspects drug dealers are operating in their area to contact police."

In October last year, a 28-year-old man was arrested at Waverley Station in connection with the seizure of a large quantity of drugs, believed to be crack cocaine and heroin.

The drugs were estimated to have a street value of about £100,000.