Select Committee on Home Affairs Memoranda


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:

            cannabis (48 per cent)

            opiates (24 per cent)

            methadone (5 per cent)

            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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Prepared 20 December 2001