Recent figures from National Treatment Agency indicate that number of young adults falling in abyss of heroin and crack addiction is decreasing whereas the number of under-25s succumbing to cocaine use is increasing.

Decrease in heroin and crack addiction means decrease in crime. Heroin use is also linked to a significant risk of overdose, HIV and hepatitis C. But increasing number of adults seeking help for cocaine use is also becoming an issue of concern.          Recent statistics were based on data on addicts in England, who seek treatment for their drug habit, collected by the NHS's National Treatment Agency for Substance Misuse (NTA).

According to official statistics, the number of 18- to 24-year-olds newly seeking help for heroin or crack addiction decreased from 12,320 in 2005-06 to 9,632 in 2007-08. This means 22 % fall in number of young adults getting treatment for heroin or crack. But the number of over-35s adults wanting treatment for the first time rose by 11%.

The number of young adults seeking help to fight cocaine problems increased by 69%(1,591 in 2005-06 to 2,692 in 2007-08).

Paul Hayes, the NTA's chief executive, said the quite significant reduction in the numbers of people seeking help [for those drugs] probably illustrates an actual fall in problematic use because help has never been more available.