Scottish Crime and Justice Survey: Drug Use

24 Jun 2014 01:38 PM

A National Statistics Publication for Scotland.

The Scottish Crime and Justice Survey Drug Use report 2012-13, published today by Scotland’s Chief Statistician, shows that self-reported drug use in Scotland has decreased between 2008-09 and 2012-13.

The publication presents information from the self-reported SCJS on the prevalence of illicit drug use in the adult population in Scotland.

The main findings include:

6.2 per cent of adults reported using any drug in the last year in 2012-13 compared with 7.6 per cent in 2008-09
Reported illicit drug use in the last year by young people aged 16-24 has decreased from 23.5 per cent in 2008-09 to 16.4 per cent in 2012-13
There has also been a decrease in adults reporting use of cannabis and cocaine in the last year, from 6.2 to 5.1 per cent for cannabis and from 2.7 to 1.7 per cent for cocaine between 2008-09 and 2012-13.

Prevalence of illicit drug use in Scotland

Drug use has decreased between 2008-09 and 2012-13, 6.2 per cent of adults reported using any drug in the last year in 2012-13 compared with 6.6 per cent in 2010-11, 7.2 per cent in 2009-10 and 7.6 per cent in 2008-09
There has been a decrease in reported use of Class A and Class B drugs in the last year, down 0.8 and 1.1 percentage points respectively between 2008-09 and 2012-13
There has been a decrease in adults reporting use of cannabis and cocaine in the last year, down 1.1 and one percentage points respectively, between 2008-09 and 2012-13
Young people aged 16-24 have the highest reported illicit drug use for all three time periods covered in the survey. However, there has been a decrease in reported use of illicit drugs in the last year from 23.5 per cent in 2008-09 to 16.4 per cent in 2012-13
Those who reported that someone has offered to give or sell them at least one illicit drug in the last year has decreased from 13.7 per cent of adults in 2008-09 to 10.6 per cent in 2012-13
0.5 per cent of adults reported having taken any ‘new drugs’ in the last year. Mephedrone use in the last year has decreased from 0.7 per cent in 2011-12 to 0.4 per cent in 2012-13. However, this finding should be treated with caution due to the very small number of respondents involved.

The experiences of adults reporting illicit drug use in Scotland

Cannabis is the most frequently used drug in the last year and the last month, with 75.9 per cent of adults who had used illicit drugs in the last month reporting its use
23.2 per cent of those who had used drugs in the last month said that they felt dependent on the drug they used most often
Of the three per cent of respondents who reported using drugs in the last month, the majority of adults said that it was very easy, 45.4 per cent, or fairly easy, 39 per cent, to get hold of the drug used most often in the last month
54.1 per cent who had taken more than one illicit drug in the last year said that they had taken different drugs at the same time, while 64.2 per cent of adults reported that they had consumed alcohol at the same time as taking drugs in the last year.

Comparison with England and Wales

A comparison with the Crime Survey for England and Wales (2012-13), for those aged 16-59 only, shows that reported drug use in the last year was similar in Scotland - 8.5 per cent compared to England and Wales - 8.2 per cent.

The figures released today were produced by independent statistical staff free from any political interference, in accordance with professional standards set out in the Code of Practice for Official Statistics.

The report examines self-reported illicit drug use by adults over 16 using three time periods: in the last month, in the last year and ever. Respondents were asked to answer a self-completion module on more confidential and sensitive issues, of which drug taking was one (others were partner abuse and sexual victimization and stalking). The self-completion section of the SCJS 20102/13 questionnaire was completed by 10,235 respondents, which represents 85 per cent of all respondents to the SCJS.

The full publication is available at http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Statistics/Browse/Crime-Justice/crime-a nd-justice-survey/publications

It contains two substantive chapters considering: the prevalence of illicit drug use in Scotland exploring trends in self-reported drug use and the experiences of those who reported drug use. The survey is the only source of data on the prevalence and use of illicit drug use across the general population and is the primary source of information about the extent of cocaine use in Scotland.

This report covers the year from April 2012 to March 2013, prior to the establishment of new national policing and fire and rescue services in Scotland.

The SCJS is one of the Scottish Government’s flagship national surveys delivering robust evidence for the “Safer and Stronger” Strategic Objective. The survey allows the people of Scotland to independently report their experiences and perceptions of crime, and thus influence the continued development and improvement of the Scottish Justice system. Further information on Crime and Justice statistics (including the SCJS) within Scotland can be accessed at:

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Statistics/Browse/Crime-Justice