Pubdate: Mon,  5 Jun 2000
Source: Daily Record and Sunday Mail (UK)
Copyright: 2000 Daily Record and Sunday Mail Ltd.
Contact:  Anderston Quay, Glasgow, Scotland, G3 8DA
Website: http://www.record-mail.co.uk/rm/

A FAVOURITE OF THE STARS

COCAINE use is rife in showbusiness.

It gives users a false sense of confidence and the ability to stay
awake longer.

But it doesn't come cheap, with a gram - or a wrap - costing around
pounds 50.

It is usually snorted through rolled-up bank notes and gives users an
immediate buzz.

Stars who have admitted to taking it include Oasis brothers Liam and
Noel Gallagher.

It girl Tara Palmer Tomkinson checked into a clinic in Arizona last
May after admitting to a pounds 250-a-day habit.

Blue Peter host Richard Bacon was fired from the children's programme
when he was revealed to have taken the drug.

Radio 2 DJ Johnnie Walker, 56, was suspended after a newspaper
revealed he used the drug.

He checked into guitar legend Eric Clapton's clinic on the Caribbean
island of Antigua in a bid to get his life back together.

Last year, Camilla Parker Bowles' son Tom admitted taking the drug at
a party.

Danniella isn't the only young EastEnder star who used
cocaine.

Sid Owen, who played Ricky Butcher, nearly lost his job after dabbling
with the drug.

Patsy Palmer, who played his on-screen wife Bianca, fell foul of it in
the early part of her TV career.

Figures show one in 10 youngsters between the ages of 20 and 24 have
tried cocaine.

And it causes the death of up to 20 people a year in the
UK.
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