Don’t sniff: cocaine users are killing the planet. Every time they snort a line, part of the rainforest dies — or so say the police in a new campaign against drugs.

They hope that appealing to young people’s environmental concerns will prove more effective than urging them to “just say no” to drugs. Linking with Greenpeace, the police plan to spread the message that for every gram of cocaine made, four square metres of rainforest are destroyed.

Chris Pearson, drug analyst at the Metropolitan police’s intelligence bureau, said: “The cocaine trade is destroying the rainforest. Young people don’t tend to listen to the police, but they might listen to Greenpeace and they might listen to their peers.”

The move is backed by the government. Vernon Coaker, the schools minister, said: “Teaching young people about the devastating environmental consequences of the drugs industry is one way we can tackle drug usage, though we need to balance this with giving young people clear information and advice on the other effects of drugs.”

Virgin rainforest is cleared for illegal coca plantations while toxic chemicals are used to process the leaves. Discarded chemicals, which are dumped in the forest and its rivers, poison rare plants and animals.

Law enforcement agencies destroy fragile ecosystems when they target illegal coca plantations, often dropping more chemicals on them from the air.

Environmentalists hope that images of rainforest destruction will make cocaine use as politically incorrect as wearing fur from animals caught in the wild. “Just telling young people that using cocaine is bad doesn’t work,” said John Sauven, executive director of Greenpeace.

“You need to change teenage culture and point out that it has all sorts of consequences. Then they start talking about it more loudly and you could get into that fur coat situation.”

The new approach follows evidence that cocaine use is increasing among young people in the UK, partly driven by lower prices.

Some MPs believe the “save the planet” message will also appeal to environmentally conscious middle-class cocaine users.

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