Types of drug misused
The Database collects a range of details about the particular drugs which the
patients/clients are using or, where the patients/clients had stopped using
drugs at the time of contact, the drugs which had previously been misused. Agencies
are requested to report the use of all relevant drugs including those prescribed
to clients as part of a treatment regime for addiction and being consumed as
instructed by the prescriber.
Where a patient/client indicates that they have a problem with more than one
drug, agencies are asked to identify and record one of the drugs as the main
drug of misuse (see Definitions, Annex 1). The report
below describes separately information on the main drug of misuse and
information about all the drugs (i.e. main and secondary) which individuals
were reported to be using. Methadone, dihydrocodeine, diazepam and temazepam,
four drugs which are quite commonly used as part of treatment regimes, have
been categorised into cases where these drugs have been prescribed for the personal
use of the patient/client, or cases where at least some of the drug had been
obtained illicitly (or where the source is unknown).
Main drug reported
Table 18 (and 43)
presents the range of main drugs reported to the Scottish Drug Misuse Database.
Table 19 presents trend information
on the main drug reported for the years 1992/93 to 1998/99. A summary for 1998/
99 and trends for selected drugs are presented in Chart 11 and 12 below.
 Main
drug used 1998/99
- At Scotland level, heroin predominates as the main drug
of misuse among new patients/clients reported to the Database, accounting
for over half (53 per cent) of reports.
- Individuals using methadone, dihydrocodeine, diazepam
or temazepam which had been prescribed as part of a treatment regime,
accounted for just over one in five (21 per cent) of reports..
Selected drugs - other includes:
Methadone 4.2%
Dihydrocodeine 4.3%
Diazepam 3.9%
Temazepam 0.7% |
Selected drugs - prescribed includes:
Methadone 14.7%
Dihydrocodeine 2.9%
Diazepam 2.9%
Temazepam 0.1% |
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 Trends
in main drug used 1994/95 - 1998/99 r
- Heroin consolidated its position as the principal main
drug reported to services during 1998/99 with a small year-on-year rise
in the proportion reporting its use - from 50 per cent in 1997/88 to
53 per cent in 1998/99.
- In previous years, reports of non-prescribed methadone
and dihydrocodeine as main drug used have remained fairly stable. In
1998/99, however, the proportion of these drugs which were non-prescribed
declined slightly.
- Use of temazepam as main drug by individuals seen at
services has markedly fallen in recent years to fewer than one in a
hundred reports, although it has a larger presence when all drugs reported
are considered (see Chart 15).
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Main drug by age group
Table 20 presents the main
drug reported by age group and sex of the individual patient/client.
Chart 13 below presents, for three age groups, trends in the percentage reporting
specific main drugs used.
 Trends
in main drug used, by age group 1994/95 - 1998/99 r
- Chart 13 shows that, as in previous years, heroin has
been the most commonly reported main drug in each of the age groups
over the five-year period shown.
- The charts also show that the substantial increase in
heroin reports between 1995/96 and 1998/99 affects all age groups but
is particularly marked in the under 20 year olds - 58 per cent reported
heroin as their main drug in 1998/99, i.e. double the proportion of
reports in 1995/96.
- In 1998/99, the proportion of new individuals seen at
service susing methadone prescribed for their own use as their main
drug is 6 per cent in the under 20s, 14 per cent in the 20-29 age group
and 20 per cent in the over 30s.
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All drugs reported
It is common for problem drug users seen at services to report consumption
of more than one type of drug and agencies returning to the Database are encouraged
to obtain and record details of all relevant drugs.
Information on all drugs reported to the Database is presented in Table 21
(and 44). A summary of all
drugs reported, ordered by the number of times these drugs were recorded, is
shown in Chart 14. The chart also highlights whether the drug was reported as
the main drug or as a secondary drug.
 Injecting
status 1994/95 - 1998/99 r
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- In 1998/99, heroin is by far the most frequently reported
drug overall with 6002 reports of its use by individuals seen at services.
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- The importance of other drugs becomes more apparent when
all drugs reported are considered; for example, only 62 of the 1137
reports (5 per cent) of non-prescribed temazepam were reported as the
main drug.
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Trend information on all drugs reported for the years 1992/93 to 1998/99 is
presented in Table 22. Chart
15 below shows trend information for selected drugs.
 Trends
in main drug used, by age group 1994/95 - 1998/99 r
- Sixty-three per cent of individuals reported use of heroin
as their main or secondary drug in 1998/ 99 compared to 59 per cent
in 1997/98 and around 45 per cent in the mid 1990s.
- Reports of temazepam use have declined sharply since
prescribing restrictions were introduced in 1995. In 1998/99, 14 per
cent of individuals reported any use of temazepam (i.e. prescribed or
non-prescribed) compared with 41 per cent in 1994/95.
- The proportion reporting use of non-prescribed diazepam
has increased each year with over a quarter of individuals (28 percent)
reporting use of the drug without prescription in 1998/99, nearly double
the proportion in 1994/95 (15 per cent).
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