FactCheck: is drug use at 11-year low?

28 February, 2008 in illegal drugs

Channel 4 have been looking at how many people take illegal drugs.  This is what they say about young people’s use:

Patterns are particularly pronounced among young people, who are more likely to use drugs than their older counterparts and on whom the government has focused particular attention.

In 1996, 29.7 per cent of 16- to 24-year-olds had taken drugs in the past year. In 1998, the figure was 31.8 per cent - the highest on record.

After a few downs and ups, it dropped to 24.1 per cent in 2006/07.

But again, class A - and specifically, cocaine - use showed a different pattern.

In 1996, just 1.4 per cent of 16- to 24-year-olds had used cocaine. In 1998, 3.2 per cent had and in 2000, 5.4 per cent. Since then, the figure has fluctuated slightly - but hit record levels in the past two years, with 5.9 per cent using the drug in 2005/06 and 6.1 per cent in 2006/07.

And what about in even younger people? The BCS figures are the most comprehensive drug use data around - but they exclude under- 16s.

In 1998, 11 per cent of 11- to 15-year-olds in England had used drugs in the last year, and seven per cent in the last month, according to a different set of official statistics.

In 2006, 17 per cent reported taking drugs in the last year, and nine per cent in the last month.

Both these represented a fall since 2001, when 20 per cent had taken drugs in the past year, and 11 per cent in the past month. But they don’t exactly back up the government’s long-term decline claim, either.article continues below…