Scotland is the drugs capital of Europe, according to a United Nations report that shows cocaine and amphetamine use is higher than in any other country.

Figures published by the UN show that 3.8% of Scots consume cocaine, compared with 3% in Spain, 2.3% in England and Wales and 2.2% in Italy.

Just over 2.2% of Scots use amphetamine, more than double the proportion in England and Wales. Scotland is also ranked second out of 47 European countries for heroin, cannabis and ecstasy use.

The alarming statistics have prompted calls by opposition politicians and drugs campaigners for urgent action. Senior police officers have admitted that drugs enforcement is not enough and that better intelligence and co-operation between countries is needed.

A report published last week in The Sunday Times claimed that police are seizing just 1% of the heroin consumed in Scotland every year.

“These latest figures are simply terrible and reflect very badly on our society,” said Bill Aitken, justice spokesman for the Scottish Conservatives. “The government’s current obsession with drink might be more properly directed to reviewing drugs policy with a much more determined approach based on abstinence. If we continue down the present road, heaven knows the number of addicted persons we will have in ten years.”

Alistair Ramsay, chairman of Drugwise Limited, a Glasgow charity, added: “We are not doing enough. Government advisers have been so focused on opiates that the abuse of other drugs such as cocaine, cannabis and amphetamines has not been tackled properly. The time has come for a radical rethink of Scotland’s drugs strategy. Lessons are not being learned or are being conveniently ignored because nobody knows how to deal with the problem.”

Willie MacColl, national drugs co-ordinator at the Scottish Crime and Drug Enforcement Agency, said that while Scotland was a small country it was at the heart of the global drugs industry. He said: “The drugs that end up in our back streets have made it here from routes that straddle the continents, bringing with them a trail of economic, social and political destruction — a continuum of harm — that scars our communities.

“Enforcement alone will not tackle the drugs problem. We have to look outside our jurisdictions, as well as within, for solutions. We need global, cross-border co-operation to gain and share intelligence.”

The UN report found Britain was the largest cocaine market in Europe with more than 1m regular users of the Class A drug. Five per cent of teenagers aged 15 to 16 claim to have tried the drug and three per cent say that they have tried crack. About 11% of people smoke cannabis in Scotland, second only to Italy, where the figure is 14.6%. Up to 1.7% of people in Scotland are hooked on heroin, behind Estonia, where up to 3.8% are addicted.

The UN study warns that organised gangs are increasing the size and sophistication of manufacturing operations.

Earlier this month, Scottish ministers announced £4m extra funding to help police stay ahead of organised crime groups behind drug trafficking.The money will help create an intelligence coordination unit to advise local authorities and other public sector agencies to avoid awarding contracts to organisations with links to organised crime.

A government spokesman said: “The damaging legacy of drug use in Scotland will not be solved overnight, but this strategy marks a new era in our efforts to combat the misery that drug misuse causes.”

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