Cocaine addiction treatment soars

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by Change | 9 Oct 2009

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New figures have revealed that drug rehabilitation services for cocaine users are coming under increasing pressure as a growing number of people are becoming hooked on the drug.

There has been a surge in the number of young people entering rehab clinics and seeking addiction treatment for cocaine addiction, it has been reported.

According to the National Treatment Agency, it is becoming increasingly normal for young people to take the drug at pubs and clubs around the country and this has resulted in many of them becoming addicted to the substance.

Official figures show that the number of 18 to 24-year-olds seeking drug addiction rehabilitation for the first time last year due to problems with cocaine doubled from 1,591 in 2005/6 to 2,998, the Daily Telegraph reports.

"Evidence seems to suggest most of the increase in powder cocaine use is part of a lifestyle rather than a consequence of problems associated with poverty and crime which often lies behind heroin and crack cocaine use," Paul Hayes, chief executive of the National Treatment Agency, told the newspaper.

While the proportion of young people seeking addiction treatment for heroin or crack cocaine use has fallen in recent times, this has been replaced by a considerable rise in the number of people dealing with problems due to cocaine usage.

Recent research from the US has suggested that a vaccine might be developed that could provide a new approach to addiction treatment by reducing users' cravings for the drug.

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