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Chapter 2 Prevalence of Drug Use
Measures of prevalence
2.1 The SCVS asks respondents about drug use 'ever' ( e.g."have you ever taken any of these drugs, even if it was a long time ago?"), drug use in the last year and drug use in the last month. 'Ever' use can provide interesting contextual information about the extent of drug use experience in the population, which is likely to affect attitudes towards drug misuse. However, it may refer to one incident of drug experimentation many years ago. 'Last month' use is clearly a much better indicator of very recent use. However, it misses a proportion of those who may use drugs fairly regularly but not every month. Drug taking in the last year is considered the most reliable indicator of change 10 because it does not overlap with previous sweeps and reflects relatively recent use. It will, of course, include those who use drugs very regularly and some people whose one act of experimentation happened to occur in the last year. This report therefore focuses on 'last year' use and, to a lesser extent, 'last month' use.
Drug use in the last year and the last month
2.2 As in previous years, the results indicate that drug taking in Scotland remains an activity carried out by a minority of the population. Although a quarter of individuals (24 per cent) admitted to drug taking at some point in their lives, the numbers of individuals taking drugs in the last year and month were much lower. Around one in 12 had misused drugs in the last year (8 per cent) while only 4 per cent had done so in the last month.
Ease of obtaining drugs
2.3 Those who had reported taking any drugs in the last month were asked "how difficult is it for you to obtain the drug you take most often?". The responses indicate that current drug users find little difficulty acquiring drugs: 68 per cent said it was 'very easy', 28 per cent said it was 'fairly easy' and only 5 per cent found it 'fairly difficult'. No respondents reported that it was 'very difficult'. The base size is too small to analyse the results by different drugs, but the majority of respondents will be referring to cannabis which is by far the most commonly used drug (see Chapter 3).
Frequency of use
2.4 The 4 per cent (n=129) who indicated they had taken any drugs in the last month were also asked how many times, in the last month, they had taken the drug they take most often. Again, the base size is too small to analyse by type of drug, but most respondents will be referring to cannabis. The results indicate that a substantial minority of current drug users take drugs very frequently: 34 per cent had taken the drug 'every day or almost every day' and a further 47 per cent used drugs at least once a week. A fifth (19 per cent) had only taken drugs 'once or twice' in the previous month.
Polydrug use
2.5 Polydrug use (the concurrent use of more than one drug at the same time, often with the intention of enhancing the effects) was rare. Of the 129 individuals who had taken drugs in the last month, three-quarters (74 per cent) had taken just one type of drug that month, 15 per cent had taken 2 different drugs, 5 per cent had taken 3 types, 4 per cent had taken 4 types and 2 per cent had taken 5 or more. There were no significant differences by age or sex.
2.6 Of the 33 respondents who had used more than one drug in the previous month, 22 indicated that they 'sometimes use more than one drug at the same time or very close together'.
Trends over time
2.7 The proportion of people admitting to drug use at some point in their lives has risen from 18 per cent in 1993 to 24 per cent in 2004. This rise has not followed a linear pattern: in 1996, the proportion had risen to 23 per cent only to fall to 19 per cent in 2000 before rising again. Nonetheless, the general pattern does suggest that more people are admitting to at least some act of drug taking, at some point in their lives, than was the case in 1993.
2.8 However, the results relating to current drug taking are more stable (see Figure 2-1). The proportion who had taken drugs in the last year has risen by just 1 per cent between 1993 and 2004; this is not a statistically significant difference. Similarly, although we only have data from 2000 onwards, there has been no real change in the proportion having taken drugs in the last month.
Figure 2-1: Trends over time - % reporting drug use in last year and last month (1993-2004)
Note: Drug use in the last month has only been asked since 2000
Source: 2004 Scottish Crime and Victimisation Survey, unweighted n=2955
2003 Scottish Crime Survey, unweighted n=3135
2000 Scottish Crime Survey, unweighted n=2886
1996 Scottish Crime Survey, unweighted n=2997
1993 Scottish Crime Survey, unweighted n=3196
Drug misuse and age
2.9 As has been noted earlier in this report, the results breaking down drug use by age should be interpreted with caution, due to the increased likelihood of non-response bias among the 20-24 age group.
2.10 Previous research conducted on drug taking in Scotland indicates that drug taking is concentrated among younger age groups. Findings from the 2004 survey show that this remains the case (see Figure 2-2).
Figure 2-2: Misuse of drugs in the last year and in the last month
Source: 2004 Scottish Crime and Victimisation Survey
Bases: 16-19 unweighted n=134
20-24 unweighted n=195
25-29 unweighted n=288
30-34 unweighted n=359
35-39 unweighted n=455
40-59 unweighted n=1524
All, unweighted n = 2955
2.11 Trends in drug taking by different age groups are shown in Figure 2-3.
Figure 2-3: Trends over time - % reporting drug use in last year by age (1993-2004)
Source/Base:
2004 Scottish Crime and Victimisation Survey, unweighted n=2955
2003 Scottish Crime Survey, unweighted n=3135
2000 Scottish Crime Survey, unweighted n=2886
1996 Scottish Crime Survey, unweighted n=2997
1993 Scottish Crime Survey, unweighted n=3196
2.12 There was no statistically significant change between 1993 and 2004 in the proportion of 16-19 year olds taking drugs in the last year. There does appear to have been a drop in the proportion of 20-24 year olds taking drugs over the same period. However, as noted above, we should be cautious about the 2004 results for this age-group, and there is no statistically significant difference in the change between 1993 and 2003. There does appear to have been an increase in drug taking among 25-29 year olds, from 9 per cent in 1993 to 16 per cent in 2004. Although drug taking among those aged 30-59 remains rare, there has been a slight increase from 2 per cent in 1993 to 4 per cent in 2004.
Other characteristics of drug users
Sex
2.13 The results relating to drug use over the last year by men and women are displayed in Figure 2-4. Generally, drug taking over the last year was more common among men than women. This difference was particularly marked in the 25-29 age group (20 per cent versus 11 per cent). Although more women than men admitted to drug taking in the 20-24 year old age group, this result should be interpreted with caution as it may be partly due to the lower response rate in this age group.
Figure 2-4: Misuse of drugs by men and women in last year
Source: 2004 Scottish Crime and Victimisation Survey
Bases: 16-19 unweighted n, men=70 women=64
20-24 unweighted n, men=89 women=106
25-29 unweighted n, men=132 women=156
30-34 unweighted n, men=137 women=222
35-39 unweighted n, men=190 women=265
40-59 unweighted n, men=723 women=801
All, unweighted n, men = 1341 women = 1614
Age of first drug use
2.14 In order to provide a fuller picture of drug use, respondents who had ever taken drugs were asked at what age they had first tried any drug. The results are shown in Figure 2-5.
Figure 2-5: Age first tried any drug
Source: 2004 Scottish Crime and Victimisation Survey
Bases: all those who had ever taken drugs men, n=409 women, n=316 all, n=725
2.15 Around one in 12 (10 per cent of men and 6 per cent of women) were younger than 14 when they first used drugs. The most common age for both males and females to have first tried drugs was 16. The proportion of individuals first trying drugs begins to decrease with age after 16, although the number does not tail off completely with age: around 4 per cent of individuals were aged between 35 and 44 when they first used drugs.
2.16 There were no marked sex differences in the age at which respondents first used drugs: 51 per cent of males and 50 per cent of females had first used drugs at the age of 16 or under.
2.17 The results were also analysed in terms of which drugs respondents had first experimented with (see Table A-1 in Annex A). Given the extent of its use, it is perhaps not surprising that that the majority of individuals had first used cannabis (85 per cent of men and 77 per cent of women).
Economic factors
2.18 As well as age and sex, patterns of drug use are also associated with economic factors such as annual household income and working status. Those with an annual household income of less than £10,000 per annum were more likely to have taken drugs in the last year: 29 per cent of 16-29 year olds in the lowest income bracket had done so compared with between 10 per cent and 16 per cent in higher income brackets. Similarly, 7 per cent of 30-59 year olds in the lowest income bracket had taken drugs in the last year compared with 2-3 per cent of those in higher income brackets.
2.19 Overall, unemployed respondents were the most likely to have taken drugs in the last year (21 per cent compared to 6 per cent of those in employment and 10 per cent of those who were economically inactive 11). A third (32 per cent) of unemployed people aged 16-29 had taken drugs in the last year.
Drug use in Scotland compared with England & Wales
2.20 Results from the SCVS can be compared with those from the BCS, which surveys England & Wales. However, a number of caveats must be borne in mind when making such comparisons. The SCVS uses paper and pen self-completion, while the BCS uses laptop computers for the drugs module. Respondents are handed the laptop, they enter their responses in private, and the answers are electronically scrambled before the laptop is handed back to the interviewer. Experience from the BCS suggests that this method encourages higher levels of reported drug use, compared with a paper and pen self-completion questionnaire. Differential response rates among sub-groups (as discussed under 'Non-response bias in the sample' in Chapter 1) may also affect the results. In addition to the methodological issues, there are also likely to be demographic differences between the 2 jurisdictions which would lead us to expect differences in patterns of drug use (for example, levels of urbanization and age profile).
2.21 Bearing these issues in mind, comparisons do appear to indicate slightly higher use in England & Wales.
2.22 Figure 2-6 illustrates drug use ever, in the last year and the last month for the 2004 SCVS and the 2004/5 BCS. Figure 2-7 shows differences between age groups in more detail for 'last year' use of any drug.
Figure 2-6: Drug use ever, in the last year and the last month - comparing Scotland with England & Wales (% respondents)
Sources: 2004 Scottish Crime and Victimisation Survey and 2004/2005 British Crime Survey
Bases: SCS 16-24 unweighted n=4331
BCS 16-24 unweighted n=6,196
SCS 16-59 unweighted n=2,955
BCS 16-59 unweighted n=28,206
Figure 2-7: Drug use in the last year by age - comparing Scotland with England & Wales (% respondents)
Sources: 2004 Scottish Crime and Victimisation Survey and 2004/2005 British Crime Survey
SCS Bases: 16-19 unweighted n=135
20-24 unweighted n=195
25-34 unweighted n=648
35-44 unweighted n=903
45-54 unweighted n=716
55-59 unweighted n=367
All 16-59, unweighted n=2,964
BCS Bases: 16-19 unweighted n=3,092
20-24 unweighted n=3,104
25-34 unweighted n=6,244
35-44 unweighted n=8,129
45-54 unweighted n=6,595
55-59 unweighted n=3,731
All 16-59, unweighted n=28,206
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