Drug abuse rife in UK

Poland and Germany have the lowest rates of drug abuse, Agence France Presse reported.

In Britain, about 25 percent of adults ages 26 to 30 have tried banned drugs such as cocaine or heroin at least once, and about 45 percent of young people have used cannabis, the study said. Britain has more than twice the number of addicts (0.85 percent of the population) than France and Sweden (0.4 percent) or Germany and the Netherlands (0.3 percent), AFP reported.

In Europe, Britain is second only to Denmark in terms of drug-related deaths. The rate in Britain is 34 people per million of the adult population. But drug-related death rates in Britain and Denmark are still well below those of the United States and Australia, the study noted.

The study was commissioned for Wednesday's launch of the independent UK Drug Policy Commission. – (HealthDayNews)

April 2007