The Department of Home Affairs has issued a strongly worded rebuttal to suggestions that the Isle of Man has the highest level of cocaine use in the world, per head of population.

The claims were made in the recently released World Drug Report 2012.

In a statement the Department says it has provided no data to inform the findings of the report which they believe is based on a European School Survey Project on Alcohol and Other Drugs from 2007.

It's claimed the findings are based on a small sample of teenagers which have then been applied across the entire Isle of Man population.

The Department says the Island has one of the lowest crime rates in the British Isles and if the Island DID have such a high rate of cocaine use, drug-related crime would be extremely high to enable addicts to feed their habits.

The value of cocaine seizures has dropped in recent years which indicates the supply of the drugs is in the Island is continuing to be disrupted.

Political Head of the Isle of Man Drug and Alcohol Strategy, David Quirk, says he's very concerned at the misleading figures being quoted. He believes the World Drug Report appears to have a "deeply flawed methodology" and should be disregarded.