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Drugs: Misuse

Answer

Estimates of the prevalence of drug use among the household population in England and Wales are provided by the British Crime Survey (BCS), which has included a comparable self-completion module on drug use since 1996.The prevalence of self-reported drug use in the past year amongst those aged 16-59 in England and Wales from the BCS is shown in the following table. This shows that use of amphetamines and cannabis has declined significantly since 1998. Cocaine powder use has increased over the same period but most of this increase took place prior to 2000, since when use has remained generally stable.It should be noted that general population surveys such as the British Crime Survey provide poor coverage of more problematic users, who are more likely to use heroin and crack. These figures are therefore likely to be an underestimate of use of these drugs. A three year research programme is currently underway which will provide us with a better assessment of trends in the prevalence of problematic opiate and crackuse in the future.

Table 1. Figures for the proportion of 16-59 year olds reporting ‘having used drugs in the last year’, 1996 to 2006-06 British Crime Survey
Drugs	1996	1998	2000	2001-02	2002-03	2003-04	2004-05	2005-06	Statistically significant change 1998 to 2005-06
Any Cocaine	0.6	1.3	20.	20.	2.1	2.5	2.0	2.4	¹—
Cocaine powder	0.6	1.2	2.0	2.0	2.1	2.4	2.0	2.4	¹—
Crack cocaine	0.1	0.1	0.3	0.2	0.2	0.2	0.1	0.2	—
Ecstasy	1.7	1.5	1.8	2.2	2.0	2.0	1.8	1.6	—
Heroin	0.2	0.1	0.3	0.1	0.1	0.1	0.1	0.1	—
Amphetamines	3.2	3.0	2.1	1.6	1.6	1.5	1.4	1.3	²—
Cannabis	9.5	10.3	10.5	10.6	10.9	10.8	9.7	8.7	²—
Unweighted base	10,741	9,884	12,771	19,973	23,357	24,197	28,206	29,631	—
¹ Statistically significant increase at the 5 per cent. level.
² Statistically significant decrease at the 5 per cent. level.
Note:
From 2001, the reporting year for BCS data switched from calendar to financial years.
Source:
1996,1998, 2000, 2001-02, 2002-03, 2003-04, 2004-05 and 2005-06 BCS.

Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

128098; 458 c1631-2W

Session

2006-07

Subjects

Drugs Misuse

Link

View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk