NEW evidence that Scotland is in the grip of a cocaine epidemic has emerged with figures revealing seizures of the drug have increased by 50 per cent in two years.
The number of successful cocaine raids by police rose from 1,302 in 2005-6 to 1,692 last year. In 2004-5, there were 870 seizures of the class A drug.
This rise in cocaine hauls bucks an overall downward trend in drug seizures, which last year fe
ll 17 per cent.
One senior police officer told The Scotsman the soaring numbers indicated that more people were taking the drug.
Gordon Meldrum, director general of the Scottish Crime and Drug Enforcement Agency, also said the figures appeared to confirm that traffickers were targeting Scotland and the rest of Europe with vast amounts of cocaine.
"This probably reflects an increase in both supply and demand," he said.
"The success that US drug enforcement officers have had in North America has displaced a lot of cocaine into Europe. Inevitably, some of it is reaching Scotland.
"There is also evidence that the number of cocaine users is growing. The stereotype cocaine user is very much middle-class. But the reality is cocaine use is now across the board."
David Liddle, director of the Scottish Drugs Forum, said: "We are seeing an increasing number of people using cocaine, both within the existing problematic drug-users and also recreational users."
He said Scotland was suffering from a shortage of treatment services for heavy cocaine users, whose use is often hidden for years because they can afford to keep buying the drug.
Kenny MacAskill, the justice secretary, said the increased number of hard drug seizures showed police were taking strong enforcement action against the drugs.
Mr MacAskill added: "The Scottish police service is working with national and international agencies to stem the flow of drugs into the country.
"However, the Scottish Government is clear that enforcement alone will not stop the misery that drugs inflict on our communities.
"Our new drugs strategy … contains a commitment to strengthen existing powers, to seize assets from drug dealers and also maps out a fresh approach to drugs education."
Seizures of crack cocaine trebled over the two years, while cannabis hauls fell 31 per cent, from 19,319 to 13,364, since 2005-6.
However, the number of cannabis plants recovered jumped six-fold from 3,200 to 20,000.
The Conservatives said the fall in cannabis seizures coincided with a downgrading of the drug, now to be reclassified in 2009.
Annabel Goldie, the Tory leader, also described as "alarming" the increase in Class A seizures.
"These figures are more evidence of the deepening malaise sweeping Scotland," she said.
"Drug abuse is destroying lives, wrecking families and devastating communities.
"We need to learn lessons from Sweden, which enforces comprehensive restrictions on the possession and supply of all illegal drugs."
Liberal Democrat Margaret Smith said: "The trebling of crack seizures in Grampian is particularly concerning.
"Police forces across Scotland should be congratulated for their work in identifying and cracking down on those who carry drugs.
"We do, however, believe that this must be backed up by action to support addicts to break the habit and stop addiction in the first place."
Scotland is now a producer of illegal highsDETAILS of drug seizures in Scotland, published yesterday, reveal dramatic changes in the market for narcotics.
Perhaps the most striking change is the explosion in home-grown cannabis.
Organised crime groups from China and Vietnam have moved into Scotland in the past few years, setting up scores of cannabis factories in farms, houses, garages and warehouses.
Yesterday's figures reveal that 20,249 plants were discovered by police in 2006-7 – compared with only 3,269 the previous year.
It means Scotland has effectively for the first time become a producer of illegal drugs.
One reason why cocaine seizures have increased so dramatically may be that police are getting better at targeting the dealers.
But most experts believe the reality is that an increasing pattern of seizures is more likely to indicate that more drugs are circulating.
This appears to be the case with cocaine. Despite a doubling in demand over the past seven years, the price has not increased.
Suppliers are meeting that demand with increased flows of cocaine from South America.
Equally worrying are fresh signs that crack cocaine, which is highly addictive, has taken a firmer hold in the North-east of Scotland.
The full article contains 757 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
