Bulgaria now has more than 30 000 drug addicts of which just 3000 undergo treatment each year, according to recent statistics.

The death rate among drug addicts aged under 25 in Bulgaria is 42 per cent. Bulgaria occupies fifth place in Europe against this index. Ninety-eight per cent of registered drug addicts in Bulgaria use heroin.

Results from a survey conducted among 5000 Sofian high school students have found that a cocktail of cocaine, amphetamines and ecstasy is the most popular drug among teenagers.

More than 30 per cent of Bulgarian teenagers say they have tried marijuana and more than five per cent of respondents say they have used synthetic drugs.

Bulgaria's drug problem, however, would appear relatively insignificant when compared to the UK. According to a 2007 report, commissioned for the launch of the charity-funded UK Drug Policy Commission (UKDPC), around a quarter of 26 to 30-year-olds have tried Class A drugs, including heroin and cocaine, and around 45 per cent of young people have used cannabis.

The UK also has the highest levels of addiction and multi-drug consumption and the second-highest rate of drug-related deaths in Europe, the report claimed.

In the UK, more than 320 000 problem drug users also commit a "very high numbers of offences" including violent crime. The UK also has an estimated 280 000 Class-A drug addicts, generally deemed to be the hardest to treat, and thought to be responsible for as much as three quarters of all thefts.