Views of the Drug Problem
in the UK
In 2014 an anonymous survey was done across 1,080 adults in the UK, representing a cross section of society, regarding their drug use. Though the amount surveyed is not that high, it gives an interesting view on some facts and figures here in the UK.
Here were some of what was found:
- One-third of those surveyed had taken an illegal drug at some point, and of those that said yes, 21% were still taking them.
- 13% of those who had ever taken an illegal drug believed they had had, or still have, a problem with drugs.
- 23% of those currently using take drugs every single day.
- The most common age for first ever trying an illegal drug was between 16-18
- Marijuana is the most often taken drug at 93% followed by amphetamines (34%), cocaine (29%), Ecstasy (25%), magic mushrooms (22%), LSD (20%), ketamine (8%), mephedrone (7%), heroin (6%), crack (6%), crystal meth (3%), anabolic steroids (2%).
- Marijuana is the most common first tried drug by a long way at 82%.
- 62% of people first tried drugs purely out of curiosity, this is followed way behind by wanting to fit in with friends (14%), peer pressure (10%), unhappiness (3%) and other miscellaneous reasons.
I think something that can be taken from that last statistic is a change in the slant of drug education. Often the reasons discussed and focused on are things like peer pressure or feeling bullied but clearly, that is not what needs to be addressed here. 62% of people are only taking it out of curiosity! Curiosity is not a negative characteristic, so something in the education needs to change so that curiosity can be channelled elsewhere or at least the drug information can satisfy that curiosity enough! Food for thought…
The full report is available for viewing here:
www.theguardian.com/society/2014/oct/05/-sp-drug-use-is-rising-in-the-uk-but-were-not-addicted
