|
|
- As in previous years, information reported to the Scottish Drug Misuse
Database for the period 1997/98 reveals that the most common age group,
accounting for nearly one third of individuals (32 per cent), is 20-24
years; the 25-29 age group accounts for a further 28 per cent.
|
Source: ISD Scotland
Chart 3 |
- The overall gender profile of individuals attending services and reported
to the Database has been consistent over each of the last five years:
in 1997/98 70 per cent were male and 30 per cent were female.
|
Source: ISD Scotland
Chart 4 |
- In 1997/98, of the 8257 individuals whose employment status was recorded,
13 per cent were in paid employment.
|
Source: ISD Scotland
Chart 6 |
- In total, 85 per cent reported that they were unemployed a proportion
identical to that reported in 1996/97. Of these, 16 per cent had been
unemployed for less than 1 year, 53 per cent for 1 year or longer and
16 per cent had never been employed.
|
Source: ISD Scotland
Chart 6 |
- Fifteen per cent of individuals reported that they were under 15 years
of age when their drug use became a problem.
|
Source: ISD Scotland
Chart 9 |
- Sixty per cent of individuals reported use of Heroin as their main
or secondary drug in 1997/98 compared to 57 per cent in 1996/97 and
around 45 per cent in the mid 1990's.
|
Source: ISD Scotland
Chart 15 |
- Figures for Great Britain as a whole show that 62 per cent of new
attenders at drug services were using heroin (either as a main or other
drug) in the six months ending 30 September1997 (the figure for Scotland
was 59 per cent in the six month period).
|
Source: DH, London
Table 29 |
- Reports of Temazepam use have declined sharply since prescribing restrictions
were introduced in 1995. In 1997/98, 13 per cent of individuals reported
any use of Temazepam (i.e. prescribed or nonprescribed) compared
with 24 per cent in 1996/97 and around 40 per cent in the early to mid
1990's.
|
Source:ISD Scotland
Chart 15 |
- In 1997/98, 38 per cent of individuals seen at services reported that
they had injected in the previous month. This is a small increase over
the previous two years (34 per cent in 1995/96 and 35 per cent in 1996/97).
In 1993/94, 47 per cent reported that they had injected in the previous
month.
|
Source: ISD Scotland
Chart 16 |
- Fortythree per cent of those who had injected in the previous
month reported that they began injecting drugs in their mid to late
teens.
|
Source: ISD Scotland
Chart 18 |
- Injecting is the main route of use recorded in the majority of reports
where Heroin is mentioned 48 per cent of Heroin reports stated
that the drug was injected
|
Source: ISD Scotland
Chart 19 |
- Figures for Great Britain show that for the 6 month period ending
30 September 1997, 58 per cent of those reporting Heroin said that they
injected compared to a Scotland figure of 59 per cent for the
same time period.
|
Source: DH, London
Table 29 |
- In 1997/98, of the individuals who had injected in the previous month,
28 per cent reported that they had shared their injecting equipment
in the previous month. This percentage is consistent with the past two
years.
|
Source: ISD Scotland
Chart 20 |
- In 1997/98, the largest group of nonpsychiatric hospital admissions
for Drug Misuse related to opioids accounting for approximately 38 per
cent of all nonpsychiatric hospital admissions for Drug Misuse.
The figure is closely followed by that for other psychoactive substances
at 36 per cent. The true figure for opioid misuse may be higher as some
of the patients in other psychoactive substances group may also have
been opioid users.
|
Source :ISD Scotland
Table 31a |
- The majority of patients with a Drug Misuse diagnosis remain in hospital
for under a week, with only 10 per cent or so staying longer than this.
|
Source :ISD Scotland
Table 31b |
- Information from General Practice shows that for both sexes, affective
depression and anxiety figured more commonly among those with a diagnosis
of Drug Misuse than those without, and result in proportionately higher
attendance rates.
|
Source: ISD Scotland
Chart 21 |
- Reports of HIV infection among injecting drug users continue to increase.
As of 31 December1998, there were1210 reports of HIV infection as a
result of injecting drug use. Injecting drug users made up 42 per cent
of all HIV infected reports.
|
Source: SCIEH
Table 36 |
- The rates of prescribing methadone mixture has increased over the
last 3 years. In 1997/98, there were 35 prescriptions of methadone mixture
per 1000 population, this compares to 24 prescriptions per 1000 population
in 1995/96.
|
Source: PPD
Table 41 |
- Between 1995 and 1996, there was a 9 per cent increase in seizures
of controlled drugs by police forces in Scotland. Strathclyde police
force were responsible for 58 per cent of all seizures made by police
forces in Scotland in 1996.
|
Source: Home Office
Table 42 |
- In 1997, there were 29 386 drug related offences (mainly under the
1971 Misuse of Drugs Act) recorded by police forces in Scotland (574
offences per 100 000 population). The majority (71 per cent) were for
possession.
|
Source: SOHD
Table 45 |
- In 1997, 8219 persons were accused of drug related offences (mainly
under the 1971 Misuse of Drugs Act), 7 005 were convicted; of the latter
22 per cent were under 20 years of age.
|
Source: SOHD
Table 46, 47 & 48 |
- Seventyseven per cent of convictions (5384 convictions) were
for possession. Of these, 82 per cent (4428 convictions ) were given
a fine; 4 per cent (227 convictions) were given a custodial sentence.
|
Source: SOHD
Table 49 |
- The total number of drug related deaths was virtually the same in
1997 as in 1996 (263 and 267 respectively). As in previous years, the
majority of drugs related deaths (59 per cent) were to persons aged
under 45.
|
Source :GRO
Tables 50 & 52 |
- In 1996 HM Inspectors of Schools established arrangements for monitoring
the provision of drug education through surveys of schools involved
in the general inspection programme and through a small number of focused
inspections of school drug education. The studies showed that provisions
in the sample of schools in the focused inspection were generally good
but HMI concluded that some areas were still in need of improvement.
|
Source: HMI
Table 54 |