High anxiety over NSW cocaine boom

New South Wales is in the grip of a cocaine epidemic, according to the state's top crime expert, and there is no shortage of users willing to shell out up to A$500 ($635) a gram for a hit of the drug.

The use of cocaine across the state has increased by more than 50 per cent in the past two years, the latest NSW crime statistics, obtained by The Sun-Herald, show.

Experts say the boom in the drug is the result of a shortage of ecstasy in Australia due to a recent crackdown by authorities in Cambodia and an earthquake in China.

NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research data show that from April 2008 to March this year cases of possessing and using cocaine rose 55.5 per cent.

''There is no doubt that the use of cocaine and the use of ecstasy have increased,'' said the bureau director, Don Weatherburn.

''The market for cocaine is growing at an exponential rate, and if the price of the drug is staying the same, then this is the sign of a thriving market ... It is safe to say we are in a cocaine epidemic.''

Evidence of use started to accelerate from August 2003, when there were only three arrests, increasing in September 2007 to 19 arrests a month, to last September, when there were 80 arrests a month, Dr Weatherburn said.

Research also showed that despite the shortage of ecstasy there had also been a 19.2 per cent increase of the use and possession of that drug in the past two years.

''Ecstasy continues to be very popular,'' said Paul Dillon, director of Drug and Alcohol Research and Training Australia. There had never been a shortage of demand for ecstasy, he said but, due to incidents in the past 18 months, both the quality and supply had gone down.

The 2007 National Drug Strategy Household Survey figures point to its popularity: at least one in five Australians between 20 and 29 years old have tried ecstasy.

Yet due to several ''disruptions'' in the world market, the quality and availability of the drug had decreased.

Mr Dillon said the poor quality of ecstasy had helped boost the popularity of cocaine as a ''quality drug''. In periods when ecstasy declined in quality, users began taking two or three pills to get the same effect.

The danger was that when the quality improved and the strength increased, there was a higher risk of overdose.

St Vincent's Hospital emergency department chief Dr Gordian Fulde said: ''Cocaine use has definitely increased over the past couple of years. It used to be seen as this elitist drug but it's very easy to score. Symptoms can include psychotic episodes and chest tightness.''

The market price for cocaine is A$200 to A$500 a gram. ''When users are paying A$500 a gram, they are assured the cocaine will be of a very high quality,'' Mr Dillon said.

A NSW Police spokesman said increased cocaine and ecstasy arrests were a result of a higher number of general arrests.

"In the 12 months to June this year, police conducted 187,000 searches of individuals ... which yielded 15,000 items, including illicit drugs,'' he said.

- © Fairfax NZ News