Drug Misuse by Young Adults in 2010 - 11

Drug Misuse Declared, the findings from the 2010-11 British Crime Survey

Attitudes to drug taking

The views of 16 to 19 year olds

Key Messages Most 16 to 19 year olds don’t think it is ever

okay to take cannabis Two in three (67%) say it is never okay to take

cannabis (30 to 34 year olds were the most likely to

condone cannabis use).

The overwhelming majority of 16 to 19 year olds disapprove of cocaine use Nine out of ten (93%) say it is never okay to take

cocaine

Do young people 16 – 19 years old think it is okay to take cannabis?

Is it okay to take cocaine?

Lifetime use

Key messages Over 2.6 million young adults (40%) have

used an illicit drug at some point in their lives.

However the trend in lifetime use by young people has been falling: 8% fewer young adults have taken illegal drugs

than in 1996 5% fewer lifetime cannabis users 5% fewer lifetime Class A drug users

The exception has been in the use of cocaine which has risen by 5.5% since 1996

Trends in lifetime use of drugs by 16 to 24 year olds between 1996 and 2010/11

Trend in Lifetime use of Cocaine by 16 – 24 year olds

5.5% increase in cocaine use by young adults since 1996

Last Year

An estimated 1.35 million young people (20%) used illicit drugs in the last year

However, the trend is downwards: 9.3% fall in proportion of young adults using drugs in

last year since ‘96. 8.9% fall in use of cannabis

For young adults aged 16 to 24, the level of mephedrone use (4.4%) was similar to powder cocaine (4.4%), the second most taken drug within this age group

Full time students were no more likely to take drugs than their peers

Trends in use of drugs in the last year by 16 to 24 year olds between 1996 and 2010/11

Proportion of 16 to 24 year olds reporting use of drugs (by type) in the last year

Last year’s use of recently classified drugs by young adults

Of those who used mephedrone in the last year, 91 per cent had taken at least one other illicit drug in the last year

Last Month

Key Messages Over 700,000 young adults (11%) took an

illicit drug in the last month

However, the trend in use is downward 8.3% fewer young people used an illicit drug than

in 1996 7.1% fewer young people used cannabis than in

1996

Trends in use of drugs in the last month by 16 to 24 year olds between 1996 and 2010/11