How many people use drugs?

In general

The latest statistics from the Crime Survey for England and Wales 2011/12 suggest that among people aged 16-59, use of most drugs has been decreasing for several years, and is around the lowest since measurements began in 1996.

• An estimated one in three adults (36.5%), around 12 million people, had ever taken an illicit drug in their lifetime; three million people (8.9%) had done so in the last year; and 1.7 million people (5.2%) had done so in the last month.

• Drug usage is consistently higher for young people than for the whole population. For people aged 16-24, 2.5 million people (37.7%) had ever taken an illicit drug in their lifetime; 1.3 million (19.3%) had done so in the last year; and 700,000 people (11.1%) had done so in the last month.
  

• The survey also estimates that five million adults (15.6%) had ever taken Class A drugs, one million (3%) had in the last year, and half a million (1.5%) had done so in the last month.

Cannabis is the drug most likely to be used. The Crime Survey for England and Wales 2011/12 indicates that 6.9% of 16-59 year olds reported using cannabis in the last year. Powder cocaine is the next most commonly used drug, with 2.2% claiming to have used it in the previous year. This is followed by ecstasy use at 1.4%, amyl nitrite and amphetamines on 0.8%, and ketamine on 0.6%. Other drugs are more rarely used.

• Surveys on a national and local level have found that illegal drug use is only an occasional activity for most people.
• Most illegal drug use is experimental or on a relatively controlled, recreational basis.
• Most people who use drugs – be it legal or illegal substances – do not come to serious harm.

Age of use

• According to the Crime Survey for England and Wales 2011/12, the highest levers of recent drug use was reported by the 16-24 year age group.
• Most young people moderate or completely stop using illegal drugs and moderate their alcohol use by their mid to late 20s when they ‘settle down’ and take on adult responsibilities.
• A small, but significant, number of people continue to use illegal drugs, and particularly cannabis, into their 30s. Many of these people are parents.

Problem Drug Use

• A much smaller number of people use heroin and crack cocaine, two of the drugs that cause the most harm to individuals and communities. The National Treatment Agency for Substance Misuse estimated there to be 306,000 heroin and crack users in England in 2012, and usage of these drugs has been falling in recent years. There were estimated to be 103,000 people who were injecting drugs in 2009/10, down from 137,000 in 2004/05.

Environment

• Drug use occurs in all classes and communities even though the drugs used and the way they are used varies from area to area and over time.
• Experience of serious drug-related problems is strongly correlated with economic disadvantage and/or emotional deprivation.

Updated July 2013