drugs
More and more young women are using cocaine and the celebrity drug culture may be to blame.
One in 15 women under 25 now admit to having taken the drug- this is a third more than 3 years ago, according to new research.
The report, by the Association of Public Health Observatories for Sir Liam Donaldson, the Chief Medical Officer, revealed that, in 2003, 8.2 per cent of men under 25 admitted taking cocaine, compared to 4.8 per cent of women.
But three years later, while the number of male users dropped to 7.3 per cent, 6.7 per cent of women admitted using the drug. It is estimated-around 750,000 Britons have used cocaine in the past 12 months.
Jim McVeigh, of Liverpool John Moores University, who led the study, said: "As women have become more prevalent in drinking environments they have been more exposed to cocaine, which has also become more widely available and cheaper. "
"There is not the same stigma attached to it as with some other drugs; it is more socially acceptable, especially with celebrities helping to give it a glamorous image."