Cocaine addiction rockets among women under 35
Soaring numbers of young women are seeking help for cocaine addiction, figures reveal today.
Clinics treated 1,261 women under the age of 35 for their habit last year - nearly double the number four years ago. In the same age group, 790 women sought treatment for cocaine dependency in 2005.
The total number of women treated for cocaine addiction for the first time last year was 1,645.
The latest findings from the National Treatment Agency for Substance Misuse show cocaine addiction among young women is now the fastest growing treatment need in the country.
Experts blame the cheapness of the class A drug, its greater availability and work-life pressures.
The biggest rise in people seeking help is among 18 to 25- year-olds.
There has been an 80 per cent increase for women in this age group and a 90 per cent rise among men. The average age for people using cocaine for the first time is now 21.
Cocaine addiction can lead to kidney failure, paranoia and fertility problems for women - and the risks increase when the drug is used at the same time as alcohol.
Supermodel Kate Moss, 35, is among those who have been linked to cocaine use.
Scotland Yard interviewed her in 2006 after a newspaper published pictures allegedly showing her snorting the drug, but the Crown Prosecution Service decided there was insufficient evidence to bring any charges.
After the pictures were published, Moss issued a public apology. In a statement released through her model agency Storm, she said she took "full responsibility" for her actions.
She added: "I also accept that there are various personal issues that I need to address and have started taking the difficult, yet necessary, steps to resolve them.
"I want to apologise to all of the people I have let down because of my behaviour which has reflected badly on my family, friends, co-workers, business associates and others."
She subsequently spent a month in the Meadows rehab clinic in Arizona.
Singer Lily Allen also came under fire after complaining about people "sensationalising" cocaine use.
She told an interviewer: "I know lots of people that take cocaine three nights a week and get up and go to work every day, no problem at all."
