UK: Cocaine Now Cheaper Than Beer

I don't know if this is related to the economy or not.

Based on reports from police forces, the Home Office said that cocaine is now being sold for as little as £20 a gram in some parts of the country. The most common price for the drug is £40 per gram. Home Office figures for 1998 show the average price was £77. A gram of heroin can now be bought for as little as £25, with the average price somewhere between £40 and £50 per gram. In 1998, the average was £74.

The Home Office figures are based on data collected from police forces and the Serious Organised Crime Agency. According to DrugScope, a charity that provides research and advice on drugs policy, gram of cocaine can make between 10 and 20 lines for snorting, depending on its strength. That means a line of cocaine can cost as little as £1, with an average price per line of between £2 and £4. The average price of a pint of lager is around £2.75, although some pub chains have reacted to the credit crunch by cutting the price of a pint as low as 99p. A glass of wine typically costs £3.50.

I tried the DEA's site to see what the comparative price is in the U.S. but there's some gobbledygook about purity strengths.