Drug Misuse Statistics Scotland 2007 - Drug Misuse Information ...

SALSUS
Prevalence
Trends 1998 - 2006
■ There has been a significant fall in prevalence of drug use in the last month among both age groups since
1998. Up to and including 2002 there had been no significant change; between 2002 and 2004
prevalence in the last month declined significantly among 15 year old boys only, (from 24% to 21%).
Between 2004 and 2006 there was a significant decrease in prevalence of drug use in the last month
among both boys and girls in both age groups. Prevalence among 15 year old boys declined from 21%
to 14% and among 15 year old girls, from 20% to 12%. Among 13 year olds there was a decline from
7% to 4% among boys and from 6% to 3% among girls (Table A2.3).
■ Whilst drug use overall had declined in 2006, the reported use of drugs other than cannabis was the
same or higher in 2006 compared to 2004. The use of stimulants (cocaine, crack, ecstasy, amphetamines,
poppers) in the last month was reported by 1% of 13 year olds and 5% of 15 year olds, 2% and 4%
respectively in 2004. The use of solvents in the last month was reported by 1% of 13 year olds and 2%
of 15 year olds, compared to 1% of both age groups in 2004. And use of opiates in the last month was
reported by 1 per cent of pupils in both age groups, as in 2004 (Table A2.5, 2004 data not shown).
■ As in 2002 and 2004, for all 13 year olds who reported using illicit drugs the most frequently reported
location was outdoors, reported by 48% of 13 year olds in 2006. This also continued to be the most
frequently reported location among 15 year olds (47%). As in 2004 over a third of fifteen year old girls
reported drug use in someone else’s home (36% in 2004 and 35% in 2006) (Table A2.10, 2004 data not
shown).
■ Between 1998 and 2006 there has been a reduction in the percentage of both 13 and 15 year olds who
report being offered drugs: 13 year olds, 38% in 1998 and 23% in 2006; 15 year olds, 68% in 1998 and
53% in 2006 (Table A2.8).
Health and other lifestyle factors
■ Seventy-seven percent of 13 year olds and 78% of 15 year olds who had used drugs in the last month
rated their health as excellent or good compared to 90% of 13 year olds and 92% of 15 year olds who
had never used drugs at all (Table A2.11).
■ ‘Hanging around the street’ in their leisure time was reported by 85% of 15 year olds who had used
drugs in the last month compared to 48% of 15 year olds who had never used drugs (Table A2.12).
■ Reports of truancy in the last year (truanted one or more times) were higher among 15 year old pupils
who had also used drugs in the last month (82%) compared to those who had never used drugs (40%)
(Table A2.13).
■ Twenty-three percent of 15 year olds who had used drugs in the last month expected to go to university
when they left school compared to 50% of those who had never used drugs (Table A2.14).
Background Information
The survey continues the series of surveys begun in 1982 to measure the prevalence of smoking among
secondary school children, which provide the national estimates of the proportion of young people in school
aged under 16 who smoke, drink alcohol and /or use illegal drugs. Until 2000 the surveys were conducted in
England and Scotland together. In Scotland, a needs assessment conducted in 2000 identified a need for
information on the context of drug use and local as well as national information and separate arrangements
were made. As a result of this SALSUS was established by the Scottish Executive in 2002 to monitor substance
use in the context of other lifestyle, health and social factors.
Information on young people’s drug use was first collected in this series of surveys in 1998, using a small
number of questions to provide estimates of the proportion of pupils who used drugs and had been offered
drugs. The same questions were repeated in 2000 and, with one exception, again in 2002 and 2004. When
SALSUS was undertaken in 2002 more detailed information was required on sources of drugs, frequency of use,
pupils’ need for help or information, attitudes towards drugs and drug users and knowledge of drugs, and
money spent on drugs. This information was also collected in 2006.
The surveys between 1982 and 2000 and in 2006 were carried out in the Autumn Term. In 2002 and 2004
SALSUS was carried out in the Spring Term. This means that the sample of pupils were therefore around six
months younger in 2006 than in the 2002 and 2004 surveys. Some of the reduction in drug use found by the
survey between 2004 and 2006 is likely to be due to the younger age of the respondents, however, whilst this
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Drug Misuse Statistics Scotland 2007