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Drug use, smoking and drinking among young people in England in 2001
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| Proportions who had used drugs in the last year and ever, by age |
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2.3 Prevalence of taking drugs in the last year
One in five pupils (20%) said that they had taken drugs in the last year, with boys more likely to report drug use than girls (21% and 19%). The age gradient in drug use in the last year was more pronounced than usage in the last month, increasing from 6% at age 11 to 19% at age 13 and then to 39% at age 15.
Prevalence of taking any drugs in the last year excluding volatile substances was 16%, compared with 20% who had taken any drugs in the last year including volatile substances. Only 2% of 11 year olds had taken drugs other than volatile substances in the last year; 13% of 13 year olds had done so, as had 36% of 15 year olds.
2.4 Prevalence of having ever tried drugs
In 2001, over one in four pupils (29%) said they had ever taken one or more drugs, with boys slightly more likely to have tried drugs than girls (30% and 28% respectively). The age gradient is very similar to that for having taken drugs in the last year, with 12% of 11 year olds having tried drugs increasing to nearly half (48%) of 15 year olds.
Overall prevalence of having ever tried drugs excluding volatile substances was substantially lower at 19% (compared with 29% including volatile substances). Among 11 and 12 year olds, 3% and 6% respectively had ever tried drugs other than volatile substances. Among 13 and 14 year olds, this rate rises to 16% and 26%, with as many as 40% of 15 year olds having tried drugs other than volatile substances.
2.5 Usual frequency of drug use
All pupils were also asked how often they usually take drugs. As with the question on whether pupils had ever taken drugs (see Chapter 1, section 1.4), there was a substantial proportion (59%) of pupils who had only ever tried sniffing volatile substances who reported that they had never taken drugs. Clearly this is a matter of interpretation rather than inconsistency in responses. The latter was relatively uncommon. For example, 3% of those who had only ever tried cannabis reported at this question that they had never used drugs. Thus, while the figures for usual frequency of drug use cannot be expected exactly to match those derived from use of individual drugs, they should provide some insight into the extent to which use is habitual or infrequent.
Three percent of pupils reported taking drugs at least once a week and further 3% took drugs once or twice a month. In total, 7% said that they usually took drugs at least once a month (the apparent discrepancy being due to rounding). This is significantly below the proportion who reported taking at least one individual drug in the last month (12% or 10% excluding volatile substances). This suggests that an element of the recent drug taking recorded in the detailed questions would not be regarded by pupils themselves as something they did on a regular, monthly basis. This interpretation is supported by the finding that only a further 3% reported they took drugs a few times a year. A majority of those who had ever taken drugs said either that they used to take drugs but did not do so now (3%) or, more commonly, that they had only once ever tried drugs (10%). Finally, the size of the majority who reported that they had never taken drugs (77%) lay, as one would expect, between the proportions who had reported never having tried any individual drugs, including and excluding volatile substances (81% and 71% respectively).
The proportion of 15 years old who reported that they had never taken drugs (56%) was close to the proportion who said they had never tried any individual drug, including and excluding volatile substances (60% and 52% respectively). A further 15% of this age group said they had only tried drugs once and a further 6% used to take drugs but no longer did so. On the other hand, 8% of 15 year olds reported weekly use of drugs, including more boys (10%) than girls (6%).
(Tables 2.1, 2.3)
2.6 Types of drug used in the last year
By far the most common drug taken by both boys and girls in the last year was cannabis: 14% of boys and 12% of girls reported its use. Cannabis use increased sharply with age: while only 1% of 11 year olds reported its use, this increased to one in ten (10%) 13 year olds, and to nearly one in three (31%) 15 year olds.
The next most commonly reported type of drug taking was sniffing glue, gas, aerosols or other solvents. Seven percent of pupils reported this (7% boys, 8% girls), a much higher percentage than obtained in earlier years of the survey (for example more than twice the 3% reported in 2000). The reason for this increase is almost certainly due to the change in questionnaire format rather than a real change in behaviour (see Chapter 1 and Chapter 3 for more extensive discussion). However, the 7% estimate highlights that sniffing volatile substances is more prevalent than has previously been thought.
The next most commonly used type of drug was stimulants, reported by 6% of pupils (6% boys, 5% girls). The most common stimulants were poppers (4% boys, 3% girls) and ecstasy (2% boys, 2% girls). Cocaine was taken by only 1% of all pupils, although prevalence was higher among 15 year olds (3%).
Psychedelic drugs (for
example, LSD or magic mushrooms) were taken by 2% of pupils in the last
year (although 5% of 15 year olds). Opiate use (mainly heroin) in the
last year was reported by 1% of pupils (but 2% of 15 year olds).
In all, 4% of 11-15 year
olds reported taking a Class A drug in the last year. As Figure 2.2 clearly
shows, use of cannabis increases much more quickly between ages 11 and
15 than does the use of Class A drugs.
(Tables 2.4-2.7, Figure 2.2)
Figure
2.2 |
| Proportions who had used cannabis or any Class A drug in the last year, by age |
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To explore further the pattern of drug taking, we examine the number and main types of drugs taken by pupils in the last year. Pupils who took drugs were classified into those who had only taken one drug (although this may have been taken more than once), and those who had taken two or more different drugs. Among those who had taken drugs in the last year, 65% had only taken one type of drug, and 35% had taken two or more different drugs. Older pupils were more likely to have taken multiple types of drugs 25% of 11-12 year olds who had taken drugs in the last year took two or more different drugs, compared with 38% of their 15 year old counterparts. Patterns were similar among both boys and girls.
Among pupils who had taken drugs in the last year, 38% had only taken cannabis and 21% had only sniffed volatile substances, with boys more likely than girls to have only taken cannabis (40% compared with 35%), but less likely to have only sniffed volatile substances (18% compared with 24%).
With increasing age came a big shift from only sniffing volatile substances to only taking cannabis. Fifty two per cent 11-12 year olds but only 8% of 15 year olds who had tried drugs had only sniffed volatile substances. The corresponding figures for cannabis were 16% and 47%. Pupils who took any Class A drugs were much more likely to have taken them in addition to taking at least one other drug (22% overall), than to have just taken one type of Class A drugs in the last year (3%).
2.7 Ethnicity, free school meals and drug taking
The prevalence of any drug taking in the last year was similar around 20% - for all ethnic groups, with the exception of Asian pupils. This group were less likely to report taking any drugs (14%). They were also, along with Black pupils, the least likely to report having taken any Class A drug in the last year (2% compared with 5% of White pupils). Similar relationships were found in 2000.
There was no difference in reported drug use in the last year between pupils who were in receipt of free school meals and those who were not (which was used as a proxy measure of socio-economic status). In 2000, girls who received free school meals had been more likely than those who did not to have taken drugs in the last year, but there was no relationship between receipt of free school meals and drug taking among boys.
(Tables 2.9, 2.10)
2.8 Summary of changes in drug use between 1998 and 2001
Between 1998 and 2000, drug use increased slightly; drug use in the last month increased from 7% in 1998 to 9% in 2000, use in the last year from 11% to 14%, and the prevalence of ever having used drugs rose from 14% to 16% over the same period.
Overall, reported drug use appears to have increased significantly between the 2000 and 2001 surveys: in the last month from 9% to 12%, in the last year from 14% to 20% and ever used drugs from 16% to 29%. There are several possible explanations for these changes:
a) Use of drugs
among pupils aged 11-15 has increased between 2000 and 2001,
with the change in questionnaire format exaggerating (or possibly
diminishing) the reported
increase;
b) Use of drugs
in 2001 is the same level as in 2000, and the difference in reported use
is entirely due to the change in questionnaire format;
c) Use of drugs
has decreased between 2000 and 2001, but the change in questionnaire
format has led to more reporting of drug use, resulting in an
apparent increase over
time that is not real.
While it is not possible from the survey results alone to determine definitively which of the above statements is true, there are a number of indicators that the first statement is, on balance, the most likely conclusion. Drug taking could well have continued to increase in 2001, but almost certainly by far less than the estimates for use have themselves changed.
There is evidence for this from the development stage of the 2001 survey which included cognitive interviewing with pupils. This work supported the hypothesis that when pupils answer questions laid out in a grid format (of the type used in the surveys before 2001) they pay more attention to the items (in this case, names of drugs) at the top of the list. As they move through the list, they tend to get into a pattern of ticking the same answers without properly reading the names of the drugs further down the grid. In addition, the proportion of pupils not answering when they last used a drug is higher for drugs further down the grid (See Chapter 1, section 1.4). The development work showed that the revised questionnaire format used in 2001 would be likely to encourage more careful reading of the full list of drugs and thus could result in increased reporting of drug use even if there was no actual increase over previous surveys.
Comparing the results from the 2000 and 2001 surveys would seem to corroborate the findings of the development work. Results for cannabis - which was the first drug listed in the grid in the 2000 survey as well as the first drug asked about in the 2001 survey - should suffer the least from the problems described above and thus be the most comparable between years. As predicted, reported cannabis use in the last year was only marginally higher in the 2001 survey it had been in 2000 (13% and 12% respectively).
Other drugs, too, recorded only modest increases in 2001, in line with the hypothesis of improved reporting perhaps in combination with marginal increases in use. However, a big change occurred in the prevalence for having sniffed glue, gas and other solvents, which more than doubled, from 3% to 7% in the last year. This was the last item on the list in 2000, and so more prone to incorrect completion. Moreover, the largest relative increases in reported sniffing of volatile substances between survey years were found amongst the youngest pupils (ages 11-13). More errors might reasonably be expected among this group (because answering a grid format is a more difficult cognitive task), although younger pupils may include instances of sniffing glue (such as during craft work) which would not be included by older pupils with a more sophisticated understanding of volatile substance misuse. Given the evidence on other drugs, it seems implausible that only the sniffing of volatile substances would increase to such an extent in one year. Rather it seems that for these substances the new questions have produced different estimates of prevalence.
It is helpful, therefore, to look at the difference in drug use between 2000 and 2001 excluding volatile substances. On this basis, reported drug taking in the last month was 9% in 2000 and 10% in 2001. Equivalent figures for drug use in the last year were 13% and 16% and for ever having tried drugs were 15% and 19%. These differences are much less substantial than the changes in drug use including volatile substances, but nevertheless are all higher in 2001 than in 2000. The increase in 'ever use' seems, in particular, to be implausibly high for a single year. This further indicates that, with the exception of volatile substances, modest (and expected) increases in reporting have been caused by the improved question format.
Finally, evidence from other questions in the 2001 survey, such as drug use among pupils' friends and attitudes towards experimentation with drugs (see Sections 6.2 and 6.4), supports the view that in addition to increased rates of reporting it is quite possible there was a genuine but small increase in drug taking among young people.
Confirmation on trends in drug use among 11-15 year olds will be provided by the results from the 2002 survey, as this will include questions in the same format used in 2001.