Growing trade to affluent addicts

Crack is not just confined to poor inner city areas. Research has revealed a growing legion of middle-class users who don't need to resort to crime to feed their habit.

One London drug treatment centre recently said more than 60 per cent of the crack addicts it treats are in work. Some are lawyers, businessmen and estate agents.

Crack is a cooked mixture of cocaine and baking soda. It comes in small lumps or shavings and can be smoked in a pipe or heated in tin foil and inhaled. It is a stimulant, said by many users to give a massive high, but the after-effects can include fatigue, depression and paranoia.

Shrewd dealers can make more from crack than from cocaine and so manipulate the market by withholding other drugs. It is feared that, with affluent crack users on the increase, the drug may lose its stigma and the dangers will be ignored.