Written question asked by Mark Francois (Conservative) on Thursday, 18 January 2007, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 22 January 2007. It was answered by Lord Coaker (Labour) on Monday, 19 February 2007 on behalf of the Home Office.

Drug Users

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many problematic drug users there were in each of the last 20 years for which figures are available.

Answer: There is no consistent time series of estimates of the number of problematic drug users over the last 20 years. The Home Office has commissioned research to provide estimates of the number of problem drug users but their developmental nature means that the estimates from different studies are not directly comparable.In 2000, a study estimated that the number of Class A problem drug users in England and Wales was at least 281,125 and at most 506,025 with a middle estimate of 337,350.In 2000-01, another study used a different methodological approach and estimated that the number of problem opiate, crack cocaine or benzodiazepine users in England to be about 287,670 (within a range of about 275,000 and 300,000).A three-year study is currently under way to provide more accurate estimates of the size of the problem drug use population. The first year results estimate there were 327,466 opiate and/or crack cocaine users aged 15 to 64 years in England in 2004-05 (within a range of 325,945 and 343,424).

Secondary information