Scotland could be on the brink a crack cocaine epidemic after police seizures of the drug more than doubled in a year.
Officers made 336 seizures of the dangerously addictive drug in 2011/12, up from just 154 the year before.
In Tayside alone seizures rose from just six in 2010/11 to 14 the following year meaning that on average, police discovered supplies of the drug more than once a month.
But it is neighbouring Grampian where crack is most prevalent. Two thirds of all Scottish seizures 224 occurred in Grampian, up from just 82 the previous year. There were no seizures of crack made in Fife.
Gareth Balmer, project manager at Addaction Dundee, said crack cocaine is far more addictive than the powdered version of the drug as crack cocaine rocks are smoked, so enters the bloodstream faster.
“It comes on strong but doesn’t last as long so soon becomes habit forming,” he said.
“Historically, Aberdeen has been a more affluent city but I think generally a lot of the crack cocaine is coming up with women who work in the sex trade.”
He added: “In England you can only buy heroin with crack. It’s targeted at drug users and it would be very worrying if the heroin-using population of Dundee began using crack too.
“It could be a good thing that the police are making more seizures because it means they are getting better at seizing it but it could just mean there are more drugs around.”
There were a total 29,509 drug seizures by Scottish police forces in 2011/12, up from the 26,693 seizures in 2010-11.
The number of seizures involving class A drugs, including heroin, cocaine and crack cocaine, decreased from 6,074 in 2010-11 to 5,788 in 2011-12.
The statistics also show that last year police captured 46.2 litres of heroin-substitute methadone, compared to 36.6 litres in 2010/11.
The vast majority of seizures occurred in the Strathclyde, Lothian and Borders, and Fife force areas.