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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

This report presents the findings on self-reported drug use from the 2006 face-to-face Scottish Crime and Victimisation Survey ( SCVS).

The principal focus of the SCVS is to monitor the extent of victimisation in Scotland by asking respondents about their experiences of personal and household crime. In addition to this focus on experience of victimisation, there is a self-completion module at the end of the survey where respondents aged 16-59 are asked about their use of illicit drugs. The self-completion module has been a feature of the survey since the first sweep in 1993.

In 2006 the survey (including the self-completion module) moved from being a paper-based survey to Computer Assisted Personal Interviewing ( CAPI). This change in the methodology has resulted in higher reported levels of drug use in the 2006 survey compared with previous sweeps. The impact of a " CAPI effect" on self-reported drug usage has been widely noted on similar surveys which have shifted from paper to CAPI. It is generally agreed that the higher levels of reported drug use obtained when using CAPI compared with paper are due to the CAPI methodology leading to more complete and accurate responses; the reduction in the levels of overall non-response and item non-response that CAPI produces; and the fact that the 'technical formality' of the computer increases the trust of respondents in the confidential nature of the survey and so encourages more honest reporting.

Because of these methodological changes it is difficult to make meaningful comparisons between the 2006 SCVS, and drug use reported in previous years and this report contains little trend analysis. However, going forward it does provide baseline figures for future surveys, which will also employ a CAPI methodology.

The 2006 SCVS achieved interviews with 4,988 respondents aged 16 or over between June and December 2006. The overall response rate was 70 per cent. The self-completion module was completed by 4,701 respondents which equated to a response rate of 66 per cent of all issued sample and 94 per cent of all those interviewed. The drugs questions within the self-completion module were, however, only asked of respondents aged 16-59; 96 per cent of whom agreed to answer the questions.

The report is structured as follows: Chapter 1 provides background to the survey and notes on limitations and interpretation of the data. Chapter 2 focuses on the prevalence of drug use. Chapter 3 looks at the experience of drug users including the age at which they first took drugs and the drug first taken; regularity of use and polydrug use.

The main findings from the survey are summarised below.

Prevalence of drug use

• The 2006 SCVS found that 37 per cent of 16-59 year olds had taken one or more illicit drugs in their lifetime, while 17 per cent had ever taken one or more Class A drugs. Levels of current drug use were lower with 13 per cent of respondents having taken one or more drugs in the last year and 8 per cent having taken one or more drugs in the last month. Use of one or more Class A drugs in the last year was reported by 5 per cent of respondents, while 3 per cent reported use of Class A drugs in the last month.
• Although levels of lifetime and current drug use reported on the 2006 survey were higher compared with previous sweeps of the survey, methodological changes means that it is not possible to make meaningful comparisons between the two years.
• Although reported levels of lifetime drug use in Scotland were broadly similar to those reported in England and Wales in 2005/6 by the British Crime Survey ( BCS), reported levels of current drug use were higher in Scotland compared with England and Wales, where 10% reported using drugs in the last year and 6% in the last month.
• Lifetime and current use of any drugs and of Class A drugs were both higher among men than women. Thus, 16 per cent of men had taken one or more drugs in the last year compared with 9 per cent of women, while men were twice as likely as women to have taken one or more Class A drugs in the last year (7% and 3.5% respectively).
• Lifetime use of drugs was highest amongst 20-34 year olds, probably reflecting past drug use. However, current drug use in both the last year and the last month was highest amongst 16-19 year olds and declined steadily with age.
• Lifetime and current use of drugs was higher among men than women in all age groups, except for 16-19 year olds, where men and women reported similar levels of lifetime and current drug use. Current drug use fell more sharply with age among women than men.
• Levels of drug use in the last year were highest among those in routine and manual occupations, those who had never worked, those living in rented accommodation, those with a household income less than £10,000 per year, and those who were unemployed or full-time students.

Types of drugs used

• Cannabis was by far the most commonly used drug. A third (33%) of respondents had used cannabis at some point in their lives; one in 10 (11%) had used it in the last year and 7 per cent had used it in the last month.
• All other drugs were used far less widely. Cocaine and ecstasy were the second most commonly used drugs and in the last year having been taken by 4 per cent and 3 per cent of respondents respectively.
• Use of both heroin and crack cocaine was very rare. Only 0.5 per cent had used heroin in the last year and only 0.4 per cent had used crack cocaine.
• Use of Class A drugs was more common amongst respondents who were not currently in work (including students) and amongst those who had never worked.

Experience of being offered drugs

• The survey also gathered information on whether individuals had been offered particular drugs in the last year. Overall one in 5 respondents (20%) reported they had been offered an illicit drug in the last year, while one in 10 (10%) reported they had been offered a Class A drug in the same period.
• Variation in the likelihood of having been offered drugs in the last year showed a very similar pattern to the variation in actual drug use within the last year. Thus, men were more likely than women to have been offered drugs in the last year and the likelihood of having been offered drugs declined with age. However, 16-19 year old men and women were equally likely to report having been offered drugs in the last year.

First experiences of drug taking

• The most common age for first trying any drugs was between the ages of 16 and 19, with over half (51%) of lifetime drug users having first tried any drugs between these ages. Almost a quarter (26%) of lifetime drug users had first tried drugs when they were less than 16 years old.
• Amongst females, where no use had occurred by age 19, respondents were unlikely to use drugs at any future point. Amongst male respondents lifetime drug use was unlikely where no use had occurred by age 24.
• Cannabis was the first drug tried by three-quarters of lifetime drug takers (76%), which was not surprising given that 90% of those who had ever taken one or more drugs had taken cannabis. Even amongst those who had tried many drugs, cannabis was the first drug tried by most users. For example, 64 per cent of those who had tried 4 or more drugs had taken cannabis as their first drug.
• Less than 0.5 per cent of drug users had tried cocaine as their first drug, even although it was the second most commonly used drug in the last year.

Regularity of use

• Those who had taken a drug within the last month were asked how many times they had taken the drug they used most often (which in the majority of cases was cannabis) during this period. Just under half of all those who had used drugs in the last month (47%) had taken their most regular drug on at least a weekly basis, with a fifth (21%) having done so every day or almost every day. Men were more likely than women to have taken their more regular drug on at least a weekly basis in the last month.

Ease of obtaining

• Current drug users reported little difficulty in obtaining drugs. Four in 5 current drug takers (80%) said that they found it 'very' or 'fairly' easy to acquire the drug they had taken most often in the last month.

Polydrug use and mixing drugs with alcohol

• Polydrug use (the concurrent use of more than one drug at a time) was fairly common amongst current drug users. Almost 4 in 10 (38%) of those who had taken drugs in the last month said they had taken another drug while under the influence of the drug they used most regularly. Consuming alcohol while under the influence of drugs was even more common, with 4 in 5 current drug takers (80%) having done this.

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