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SCOTTISH EXECUTIVE'S ANNUAL REPORT ON DRUG MISUSE

YOUNG PEOPLE

PROGRESS

Reported drug use has not changed significantly since 1998. In 2002, 9% of 13 year old boys and 6% of 13 year old girls reported having used drugs in the last month, compared to 9% and 7% respectively in 1998. 24% of 15 year old boys and 21% of 15 year old girls report having used drugs in the last month, compared to 26% and 22% respectively in 1998. Use in the last year also remained steady at 13% for 13 year old boys and 10% for 13 year old girls. 35% of 15 year old boys and 32% of 15 year old girls reported use in the last year. 1% of both 13 and 15 year olds had used heroin.

Statistics from the Scottish Crime Survey in 2000 have been used to measure prevalence of drug misuse among 16-24 year olds. The percentage of 16-24 year olds who reported drug use 'in the last year' dropped from 27% in 1996 to 18% in 2000. Fewer than 0.5% of 16-24 year olds reported heroin use in 1996 or 2000. However, the sample size for under 24s is very small and there is likely to be an element of under-reporting. In future, information from the national prevalence study will help to monitor trends in problematic drug use for this age group.

PROGRESS

Results of the third annual survey on drug education in schools, published in October 2002, revealed that 98% of schools provided drug education, compared to 97% in 2000-01. 91% of schools said that they provided drug education in line with current national advice. 76% of schools had written procedures for managing incidents of drug misuse in line with current national advice, compared to 64% in 2001-02 (74% in primary, 87% in secondary and 80% in special schools respectively).

PROGRESS

In 2002, 28 out of 32 local authorities had, or were preparing, agreed written policies covering both drug education and the management of incidents of drug misuse (19 of those cover drug education and 22 address the management of incidents of drug misuse).

PROGRESS

National guidance ( Getting our Priorities Right) was issued in draft in 2001. Policies are in place in the majority of DAT areas with only a few waiting until the final guidance is published. In practice, all DATs are developing services in line with guidance.

PROGRESS

We have:

• made available, in 2001-02, 900,000 in grant funding to education authorities to help them towards achieving the national standards
• undertaken the annual survey of drug education in schools, which showed that:
  • 98% of schools provide drug education, and 91% of schools report that this drug education is in line with national advice (this compares with 97% and 81% respectively last year);
  • 63% of schools report that they have reviewed their drug education programme within the last two years; and
  • 76% of schools have procedures in place for managing incidents of drug misuse, 11% having procedures in preparation but there are still 12% of schools who have neither procedures in place nor in preparation

(the overarching aim is that, by this year, all schools will be able to report that they provide drug education in line with national advice, and all schools will have procedures in place)

Sport is a good example of how youngsters channel their energies in a positive and enjoyable way

• given Scotland Against Drugs nearly 427,000 in the current financial year to fund the Education Sector Initiative, a programme of teacher training in secondary schools (there will also be a final roll-out and refresh of the Primary School Initiative)
• allocated specific funding of 638,600 this year to Scottish Training on Drugs and Alcohol to help professionals in accessing multi-agency training
• in the past year, provided funding to local authorities to set up over 100 partnership projects, through the Changing Children's Services Fund, for projects and initiatives in the areas of drugs prevention and treatment facilities for under 16s; combating drug misuse by persistent young offenders (appearing before children's hearings or the courts); drug education and treatment for young people looked after by local authorities (at, or away from, home); and services for young people in families of drug misusing parents
• through the Changing Children's Services Fund, and in partnership with other funding streams, enabled the development of services for young people across all DAT areas in Scotland, covering prevention and diversion initiatives, treatment services and services which work with young substance misusing offenders
• carried out the Scottish Schools Adolescent, Lifestyles and Substance Use Survey which will provide both local and national prevalence estimates over a broad range of health, lifestyle and substance misuse issues; the findings will be used to inform policy development and local planning
• established a Cabinet Sub-Committee on Children's Services, chaired by the First Minister, to drive forward better integrated services for disadvantaged children, including those affected by their own or parental drug misuse
• through the Effective Interventions Unit (EIU):
  • published research which had been commissioned to examine treatment services for young people under 16, taking into account the 16-18 age group;
  • produced, in collaboration with the Lloyds TSB Foundation for Scotland, A Guide to Principles and Practice of Treatment Services for Young People; and
  • commissioned a review of the literature on the effectiveness of the Lifeskills Training drug education programme developed in the United States
• funded a number of projects through targeting drug misuse funds allocated to Social Inclusion Partnerships (SIPs) that focus on preventative work and diversionary activities with young people
• in partnership with the Scottish Drugs Forum, Action on Smoking and Health, the Health Education Board for Scotland and West Lothian Drug and Alcohol Services, produced an information leaflet on cannabis and tobacco
• through Scotland Against Drugs:
  • trained 2316 primary education staff at 126 events to provide the most up-to-date drugs education programmes to children in Scottish primary schools (the funding for this programme was raised from the private sector);
  • trained 216 secondary school staff, over 12 events, in seven authorities through the Education Sector Initiative (ESI) - the funding for this initiative has been provided by the Scottish Executive Education Department; and
  • devised a drug education game for 6-year-old children to play at home with their parents or carers - the 'Stepping Stones' board game has been distributed to every primary 2 pupil across Scotland with the aim of involving parents in their child's drug education
• with the Lloyds TSB Foundation - through the Partnership Drugs Initiative - funded 26 voluntary sector projects in 18 DAT areas - to date, the PDI has distributed 2.5 million to projects across Scotland, from Orkney to Dumfries and Galloway, Peterhead to Inverclyde:
  • five of the current projects are intensive therapeutic interventions working with families affected by drug misuse e.g. Aberlour's Edinburgh Outreach Service, Fife's Family Centres' Project and Aberdeen's Families First initiative; and
  • nine of the projects are concentrating on early intervention and diversionary work with young people - this includes streetwork, outreach, peer education and respite and support to young people whose parents misuse drugs e.g. West Lothian Youth Action Project, the Greater Easterhouse Community Health Project, Dundee's Corner Project and East Ayrshire's Young Carers' Project
• consulted widely on draft guidelines for working with children and families - Getting our Priorities Right - (including three seminars introduced by Ministers) and will publish in early 2003
• directed that at least 14 million of the New Opportunities Fund should be committed to an Active Steps programme, which is designed to promote the role of sport in diverting children and young people aged 5-16 from crime or behaviours likely to lead to crime (special weighting has been given to rural areas to ensure meaningful allocation).

THE FUTURE

We will:

• launch quality indicators to help with self-evaluation of drug education programmes
• assess health education as part of the general inspection process, which will provide the Executive with reports about the quality of health (including drug) education
• over the rest of this academic year, look at the quality of drug education programmes and their delivery (we will also examine procedures for managing the incidents of drug misuse)
• include in the Education Department's research programme for 2003 a research project to examine the outcomes of the education of young people on drug-related issues
• establish an internal monitoring and reporting system which can be used to provide examples of projects/initiatives, and as a means of disseminating good practice across the country
• assist those local authorities which do not have one, to implement an agreed written policy relating to drug misuse in community education settings, in accordance with our published standard
• work to establish an integrated approach to the assessment of children
• publish a replacement for the 'Survivors Guide to Drugs and Clubbing'
• publish, in 2003, the interim results of an an evaluation of projects working with young people funded by the Lloyds TSB Partnership Drugs Initiative - the work will be completed in 2005
• through Scotland Against Drugs:
  • train a minimum of 800 secondary teaching staff per year until March 2004;
  • evaluate the training programmes independently to assess the value; and
  • continue to work closely with local authority staff to decide on training events and their sustainability
• through the Lloyds TSB Foundation:
  • distribute approximately 1.2 million to voluntary sector projects working with young people and children through a further two funding rounds of the Partnership Drugs Initiative (PDI);
  • fund an external evaluation of PDI projects to find out more about what works with this client group as part of the Drug Misuse Research Programme; and
  • support project level and programme level evaluation activities attached to the PDI to provide crucial feedback on the outcomes from the programme.

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