The increase in cocaine use among young British people placed the UK in the top league for the abuse of psychotropic drugs in Europe in 2009, the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction has said.

The United Kingdom not only tops the list among the 27 members of the community area with the highest rates of drug addiction among youth and adults, but also exceeds the observed record in the USA, reports 'The Guardian'.

The consumption of cocaine among British people aged 18 to 34 increased by almost 15 percent in 2009 from that in 2008, according to EMCDDA statistics released on Wednesday.

So far in 2010, EMCDDA received certification of 31 variants, especially the so-called designer drugs or those imitating the effects of ecstasy and cannabis.

The EMCDDA expressed concern because of the rise in cocaine use in some parts of London. The same trend has been noted in the 27-member European Union since the 90's, related to the hallucinogen, which ranks as the second most widespread illicit drug after cannabis, with over three million addicted young adults each year.

The number of deaths in Europe associated with consumption of this substance also increased to nearly a thousand deaths a year, with double the deaths in the UK, from 161 cases in 2003 to 325 in 2008.

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