THE deadly drug heroin is being sold so cheaply in Oxfordshire that kids can afford a fix with their pocket money.

Prices can be as low as £5 a bag, meaning that almost any teenager could afford the drug.

Det Insp Ian Robinson, force drugs co-ordinator for Thames Valley Police, said: "The frightening thing among young people is that they're using heroin."

He said the over the last few years heroin use had declined because injecting it was associated with the Aids virus. But now users were choosing to 'chase the dragon' or smoke the drug instead.

He said: "Cannabis used to be called the gateway drug. Now it can be cheaper to get a heroin cigarette than it can be to get a cannabis cigarette. "There's no doubt that heroin has reduced drastically in price. The lowest amount I've heard of in Oxford is a £5 bag - lots of teenagers have £5, it's easily available.

"What's happening is that people are smoking it - the fear of Aids is no longer there. "

He added that a lot of heroin users were under the impression that if they smoked the drug it was not addictive, which was not true.

Instead research has shown that users of heroin account for a high proportion of so called 'problematic users'.

Det Insp Robinson added: "It's the people that become very physically and psychologically addicted. They will go out and commit crime and get money every way they can.

"As a general rule cannabis is not an addictive drug but (with heroin) the possibilities for addiction and health problems are much higher."

In 1997 there were 59 seizures of heroin within the city of Oxford alone, compared with only 32 in 1995. Police believe the supply of heroin is being brought into Britain from Turkey.

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