Annex
ADDITIONAL EVIDENCE FROM THE HOME OFFICE
AND THE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH, FOR THE HOME AFFAIRS COMMITTEE INQUIRY
This memorandum is in response to the HAC's
request for additional evidence on the following points.
1. STATISTICS
ON THE
PREVALENCE OF
DRUG USE
General population
The best source of data on the prevalence of
drugs use among the general population is the British Crime Survey.
The main findings from the 2000 survey are:
— Around a third of those aged 16 to
59 have tried drugs in their lifetime. However, the proportions
using drugs in the last year and the last month are much lower,
at 11 per cent and 6 per cent respectively.
— Drug use is considerably higher in
young people with lifetime, last year and last month's use being
50 per cent, 29 per cent and 18 per cent respectively for 16 to
24 year olds.
— Cannabis remains the most widely
consumed drug in all age groups. The proportion of 16 to 24 year-olds
who used cannabis in the last year was 26 per cent, a figure similar
to previous years. Among all adults, aged 16 to 59, the figure
is 9 per cent.
— Heroin use remains low, with around
1 per cent of 16 to 24 years olds using it within the last year,
and less than 0.5 per cent of 16 to 59 years olds. Analysis by
various socio-economic factors showed that heroin use tends to
be more prevalent among less advantaged elements of the population.
— The proportion of 16 to 24 year old
who used cocaine in the last year was 5 per cent (a rate similar
to ecstasy use among this age group). About 2 per cent of 16 to
59 year olds reported using cocaine in the last year.
— Class "A" drug use was
around 9 per cent for 16 to 24s and 3 per cent for 16 to 59s,
for use in the last year.
— Longer term trends (from 1994 to
2000) in young people's (16-24) drugs use in the year before interview
were:
— "any illicit drug":
stable at 29 per cent since 1994, although for the younger part
of this age group (16-19 year olds) there has been a significant
fall—from 34 per cent in 1994 to 27 per cent in 2000.
— Cannabis: stable at around a
quarter since 1994.
— Class "A" drugs: stable
at around nine per cent (since 1994).
— Cocaine: rose significantly between
1996 and 2000, now at 5 per cent
— Heroin: relatively stable at
0-1 per cent since 1994.
— Ecstasy: stable at around 4-6
per cent (no significant changes since 1996).
Arrestee population
The New English and Welsh Arrestee Drug Abuse
Monitoring (NEW-ADAM) programme collects information on past acquisitive
offending behaviour among arrestees in 16 locations. Preliminary
data based on the first eight sites indicates:
— 69 per cent of arrestees tested
positive for one or more, and 30 per cent tested positive for
two or more, of the following illicit substances: cannabis, opiates
(including heroin), cocaine (including crack); methadone, amphetamines;
benzodiazepines.
— The percentage testing positive
for individual drugs (including their use in the last three days
or so) were as follows:
cocaine/crack (15 per cent)
amphetamines (9 per cent)
benzodiazepines (13 per cent)
— Although the overall prevalence
of testing positive for illicit substances was similar for women
and men, the pattern of substances detected was different. Female
arrestees interviewed had a significantly higher rate of positive
tests for opiates, benzodiazepines and amphetamines than did men.
Prison population
The proportion of positive results from mandatory
drug testing fell from 24.4 per cent in 1996-97 to 12.4 per cent
in 2000-01.
Prevalence of problematic drugs use
Our best estimates for the prevalence of problematic
drug users are as follows:
— 140k for those at risk of mortality
from drug overdose;
— 165k for those who have ever been
intravenous drug users;
— 200k for problem opiate users.
— 250k problem drug users (all types).
NB: All of these estimates have quite large
margins of error attached—that is, they fall within a wide
range of estimates of the size of the problem.
2. STATISTICS
ON TOBACCO
USE
Please see the enclosed statistical bulletin
"Statistics on smoking: England, 1978 onwards." (Bulletin
2000/17).
3. STATISTICS
ON ALCOHOL
USE
Please see the enclosed statistical bulletin
"Statistics on alcohol: England, 1978 onwards" (Bulletin
2001/13). The Department of Health have also provided data from
the ONS General Household Survey.
4. LEVELS OF
CRIME RELATED
TO DRUGS
AND ALCOHOL
Drugs
There is no systematic data collected on drug-related
crime in general (eg crimes which are committed in order to fund
the purchase of drugs, or as a result of being under the influence
of drugs).
Criminal Statistics and Drug Seizure and Offender
Statistics provide a picture of the number of persons convicted
of, or cautioned for, drug-specific offences. These data suggest
that of all those convicted or cautioned for an indictable offence,
one in five were convicted for a drug-specific offence.
Findings from the Youth Lifestyles Survey suggest
that three-quarters of serious and/or persistent offenders (aged
12-30) had ever used an illicit drug, three times that of non-offenders.
The New English and Welsh Arrestee Drug Abuse
Monitoring (New-Adam) programme collects information on past acquisitive
offending behaviour among arrestees in 16 locations. Preliminary
data based on the first eight sites demonstrate much higher reported
levels of acquisitive offending among users of heroin and cocaine/crack
than among those arrestees who use other types of drug, or who
do not use drugs at all.
Current research data tell us very little about
whether and to what extent drug use and crime are causally linked.
However, a variety of studies among arrest and treatment populations
have consistently shown that shoplifting, burglary, dealing and
fraud are the crimes most frequently used to finance drug use.
Alcohol
There is no systematic data collected on alcohol-related
crime in general.
Criminal statistics are routinely collected
for alcohol-specific offences, such as drinking and driving, simple
and aggravated drunkenness offences, and offences against liquor
laws. These provide data on the number of persons cautioned, proceeded
against and found guilty. Aside from being restricted to alcohol-specific
offences, these data are limited in only covering offenders who
come to the attention of the criminal justice system.
The only robust data on the presence of alcohol
in other offences is collected by the British Crime Survey (BCS).
The survey provides information on the role of alcohol in violent
crime (victims are asked whether or not they thought the offender
was under the influence of alcohol at the time of the incident).
The 2000 BCS estimates that in 40 per cent of violent crimes the
offender is under the influence of alcohol at the time of the
incident.
In terms of offenders, the 1998-99 Youth Lifestyle
Survey (YLS) found that males aged 12 to 20 who drank regularly
were more likely to be serious or persistent offenders than those
who drank occasionally or who did not drink at all.
5. LEVELS OF
MORBIDITY RELATED
TO DRUGS,
ALCOHOL AND
TOBACCO
Please see the tables provided by the Department
of Health.
6. COSTS TO
SOCIETY
Drugs
Work is underway to build a comprehensive picture
of the economic and social costs of drug misuse in the UK. The
methodology for such research is still undergoing considerable
development, and there is a particular need to improve the availability
of basic economic data, in particular robust unit cost measurements
for the resource consequences of drug misuse.
To date, estimates are only available for the
policing and Criminal Justice System costs of drug offences. Brand
and Price (HORS 217, 2000) estimated the costs of drug crime to
the CJS, including the police (but not to society overall) to
total £1.2 billion a year—£616 million for CJS
and £516 million for police. Drug offenders included trafficking
in controlled drugs, possession of controlled drugs, and other
drug offences.
The Department of Health have provided data
on the costs of drug misuse to the NHS in the table attached.
Work is being undertaken by the University of
York to examine other drug-related costs of crime—for example,
property crime—to fund a drug habit.
Alcohol
The Department of Health have provided data
in the table attached.
Tobacco
The Department of Health advise that the only
data readily available are an estimate that the annual cost to
the NHS of smoking is £1.4 to £1.7 billion (Buck D,
Godfrey C, Parrott S, and Raw M; University of York for Heath
Economics. Cost effectiveness of smoking cessation interventions.
London: Health Education Authority 1997).
7. STATISTICS
ON THE
PURITY AND
PRICE OF
STREET DRUGS
SINCE 1990S
Please see the enclosed booklet prepared by
NCIS in response to your request.
HOSPITAL ADMISSIONS (UNGROSSED) BY REGIONAL
OFFICE AND SELECTED PRIMARY DIAGNOSES (ICD 10 CODES), ENGLAND,
1999-2000
| All persons |
Regional Office
of treatment | F11.2
| F11
excluding
11.2
| F12 | F13 to F16
| F19 | F11 to
F16, F19
|
| | (Mental & behavioural disorders due to use of opioids-dependence syndrome)
| (Mental & behavioural disorders due to use of opioids excluding dependence syndrome)
| (Mental & behavioural disorders due to use of cannabinoids)
| (Mental & behavioural disorders due to use of sedatives or hypnotics, cocaine, other)
| (Mental & behavioural disorders due to multiple drug
use and use of other psychoactive substances)
| Total |
Northern & Yorkshire
Regional Office
| 159 | 157
| 63 | 162
| 312 | 853
|
| Trent Regional Office | 528
| 148 | 56
| 168 | 196
| 1,096 |
| Eastern Regional Office | 192
| 99 | 73
| 86 | 166
| 616 |
| London Regional Office | 570
| 69 | 91
| 127 | 525
| 1,382 |
| South East Regional Office | 332
| 73 | 78
| 105 | 316
| 904 |
| South & West Regional Office | 302
| 103 | 75
| 148 | 379
| 1,007 |
| West Midlands Regional Office | 293
| 258 | 62
| 121 | 224
| 958 |
| North West Regional Office | 571
| 138 | 68
| 247 | 665
| 1,689 |
| England | 2,947
| 1,045 | 566
| 1,164 | 2,783
| 8,505 |
Notes:
1. The data include private patients in NHS hospitals (but not private patients in private hospitals.
2. An admission is defined as a first period of patient care under a consultant in one health care provider. The figures do not represent the number of patients, as one person may have several admissions within the year.
3. Data in this table are provisional, and have not yet been grossed for coverage and unknown/invalid clinical data, or under reporting by hospitals.
4. ICD10+ International classification of Diseases, 10th Revison.
* denotes admissions of 5 or less.
0 denotes no admissions.
Source: Department of Health, Hospital Episode Statistics.
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