POLICE have made a record number of arrests for cocaine, particularly in Sydney's CBD, and more users of the drug are being treated in hospitals.

The latest NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research figures show arrests for possession and use of the drug have risen by 76 per cent in the past two years.

A breakdown of the figures, obtained by the Herald, shows in the first six months of this year 412 people were caught with cocaine in NSW - one more arrest than was made in all of 2008.

Almost 100 people were caught with the drug in January alone. Five years ago police made 223 arrests in an entire year.

NSW police have attributed the rise to increased law enforcement, but the bureau director, Don Weatherburn, said figures from hospital emergency departments also indicated an increase in the number of patients being treated for overdoses.