Stephen Bates in Brussels

LEVELS of recorded drug abuse in Britain are up to five times higher among

teenagers and young adults than in other European countries, a survey

published last week reveals.

The report by the Lisbon-based European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and

Drug Addiction, based on official statistics gathered by EU member states,

shows that the proportion of British teenagers and adults in their 20s

taking a range of drugs, including cannabis, amphetamines, cocaine and

Ecstasy, are at much higher levels than in states such as France and Germany.

The figures indicate that whereas 36 per cent of Britons in that age range

took cannabis, comparable figures for France were 25.7 per cent, Germany 21

per cent and Spain 22 per cent. Only Denmark, from a much smaller survey,

records similar figures to Britain's.

For cocaine, only Spain beat the British figure of 4 per cent.

Nine per cent of young Britons were reported to have experimented with

Ecstasy, compared with just 2.8per cent in Germany and 1per cent in Sweden

and Belgium.

The report says that even allowing for differences in the size, date and

age range of the national surveys, the UK returns are significantly higher

than those of other countries. It adds: "Recent cannabis use [last 12

months] is reported by 1 to 9 per cent of the adult population, depending

on the country; Finland, Sweden and eastern Germany present the lowest

rates, and Spain and the UK the highest.

"Recent use is higher among young adults, in most countries between 3 and

10 per cent although reaching 20 per cent in the UK."

The report also records disturbing rises in the use of illegal drugs in

eastern European countries, where the authorities have disproportionately

fewer resources to deal with the problem.Researchers found that seizures of

cannabis in EU states had levelled out since 1994, after quadrupling in the

previous decade, while there are also signs that Ecstasy use may have

levelled off. The use of heroin and cocaine is still on the increase.

The Guardian Weekly Volume 159 Issue 26 for week ending December 27, 1998,

Page 7