Written question asked by Nigel Evans (Conservative) on Monday, 1 March 2010, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Thursday, 4 March 2010. It was answered by Alan Campbell (Labour) on Tuesday, 9 March 2010 on behalf of the Home Office.

Drugs: Misuse

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate he has made of the (a) level of availability and (b) price of mephedrone on the internet; and what estimate he has made of the average street price of cocaine in the last 12 months.

Answer: [holding answer 4 March 2010]: Mephedrone is sold in the UK through shops and online from websites under the guise of a research chemical, plant food or bath salts. It can be purchased from the internet at between £10 and £15 per gram.The street cocaine market is multi-tiered and a gram of cocaine can be sold for between £20 and £70, with a most common price of £40. What is being sold as cocaine by local dealers typically contains less than 20 per cent. cocaine hydrochloride.

Secondary information