Key reading:
Road casualties: drinking and driving, 2008
Welsh Assembly Government, 2009
These statistics on Road Casualties: Drinking and Driving include data for Wales for the period up to the end of December 2008.
Download: Full report (PDF 355KB)
Web: http://wales.gov.uk/topics/statistics/headlines/trans2009/hdw200912011/?lang=en
Longitudinal analysis of the offending, crime and justice survey 2003-06
Hales J., Nevill C., Pudney S., Tipping S., Home Office, 2009.
This report presents longitudinal analysis of self reported data on offending, drug use and anti-social behaviour amongst young people (initially aged 10 to 25) from the Offending, Crime and Justice Survey, which was carried out annually between 2003 and 2006. The report identifies the most common ages for starting to offend and use illegal drugs, and the ages of desistance. It also identifies those most at risk of offending and using drugs and explores patterns of offending and drug use.
Web: http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/pdfs09/horr19c.pdf (PDF 1.4MB)
Download: Full report (PDF 1.4MB)
Seizures of drugs in England and Wales, 2008/09
Hand T., Rishiraj A.S., UK. Home Office, 2009.
There were a record 241,090 drug seizures by police and the UK Border
Agency (including Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs1) in England and
Wales in 2008/092, an increase of six per cent on 2007/08, when 228,131
seizures were made.
- The number of drug seizures made has more than doubled between 2004 and 2008/09. Much of this increase is thought to be associated with the introduction of cannabis warnings3. Seizures of cannabis in its various forms have increased by seven per cent from 173,512 in 2007/08 to 185,890 in 2008/09.
- Class A seizures have decreased by one per cent from 2007/08 to 2008/09 to 47,630. Class B seizures have increased by nine per cent to 193,376, with class C seizures also rising by 37 per cent to 6,357.
- Cocaine was again the most commonly seized class A drug in 2008/09, with 24,604 seizures, a 15 per cent increase on 2007/08. The number of seizures of cocaine has more than quadrupled since 2002. The second highest seized drug was heroin at 13,273, a six per cent decrease from 2007/08.
- There were 2.9 tonnes of cocaine seized in England and Wales in 2008/09, down from 3.6 tonnes in 2007/08. The number of seizures of cocaine, however, increased from 21,381 in 2007/08 to 24,604 in 2008/09.
- Additionally there were 1.6 tonnes of heroin seized in England and Wales in 2008/09, as well as 2.9 tonnes of amphetamines, 65 tonnes of cannabis, (almost double the 2007/08 figure), and over 640,000 cannabis plants, up from 535,055 in 2007/08
Download: Full report (PDF 217KB )
Crime in England and Wales 2008/09 - Findings from the British Crime Survey and police recorded crime
UK. Home Office, 2009
The Home Office have released data from the 2008/09 British Crime Survey. In terms of adult drug use, the 2008/09 British Crime Survey found that found that 10.1% of 16 to 59 year olds in England and Wales reported using any illicit drug in the last year, compared to 9.6% in 2007/08. Key trends in the use of individual drugs include:3% of 16 to 59 year olds reporting using cocaine powder in the last year, compared to 2.4% in 2007/0; 6.6% of 16 to 24 year olds reported using cocaine powder in the last year, compared to 5.1% in 2007/08; The percentage of 16 to 24 year olds reporting the use of ketamine in the last year, rose from 0.9% in 2007/08 to 1.9% in 2008/09; The number of 16 to 59 year olds reporting having used cannabis in the last year increased from 7.6% in 2007/08, to 7.9% in 2008/09. However, it should be noted that the 2008/09 figure is still the second lowest reported level of last year cannabis use in the last eleven years.
Web: Volume 1 - Findings from the British Crime Survey and police recorded crime (PDF)
Measuring the harm from illegal drugs: a summary of the Drug Harm Index 2006
UK Home Office, 2009
The Drug Harm Index (DHI) was developed as the overarching measure for the PSA target to reduce the harm caused by illegal drugs. It combines robust national indicators of the harms generated by illegal drugs into a single-figure time-series index. The harms include drug-related crime, community perceptions of drug problems, drug nuisance, and the various health consequences that arise from drug abuse. This latest update adds data for 2006 and incorporates revised figures for earlier years. It shows that the DHI has fallen from 80.5 in 2005 to 68.8 in 2006. This is a drop of 11.7 points or 14.5 per cent. This compares to a decrease of 5.7 per cent between 2004 and 2005. The index has now fallen year-on-year since 2001.The fall in the DHI between 2005 and 2006 is largely due to reductions in drug-related crime and a decrease in drug deaths
Download: Full report (PDF 220KB)
World Drug Report 2007
United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, 2008.
The World Drug Report presents a comprehensive statistical view of today's illicit drug situation. This year's edition reports signs of long-term containment of the global problem. However, the overall trend masks contrasting regional situations, which the report examines in detail. For instance, while an impressive multi-year reduction in opium poppy cultivation continued in South-East Asia, Afghanistan recorded a large increase in 2006. More interceptions of cocaine and heroin shipments across the world have played an important part in stabilizing the market. Although drug abuse levels are stabilizing globally, countries along major and new trafficking routes, such as those now going through Africa, may face increasing levels of drug consumption. The World Drug Report 2007 also discusses a possible method to better assess and monitor the role played by organized crime in transnational drug trafficking.
Web: http://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/data-and-analysis/WDR-2007.html
Crime in England and Wales 2007/08 - Findings from the British Crime Survey and police recorded crime
Chris Kershaw, Sian Nicholas and Alison Walker eds. UK. Home Office, 2008.
The Home Office have released data from the 2007/08 British Crime Survey, some of which relates to trends in drug-taking. Key findings include:
- the overall use of any illicit drug has fallen among both the 16 – 59 and the 16 – 24 age groups since 2006/07
the use of class A drugs also fell among both the 16 – 59 and the 16 – 24 age groups since 2006/07; among 16 –24 year olds the overall use of illicit drugs is at its lowest ever level since 1995 Download: Full report (PDF 1.9MB) Warning: large file
Seizures of drugs in England and Wales 2005
Reed E. UK. Home Office. Research, Development and Statistics Directorate. UK. Office for National Statistics, 2007.
Seizures statistics for 2005.
Download: Full report (PDF 142KB)
Arrestee survey 2003-2006
Boreham R., Cronberg A., Dollin A., Pudney S., Home Office, 2007.
The third of three surveys, conducted in 2003-04, 2004-5, and 2005-6. Subjects covered are: Characteristics of respondents; Substance misuse; Past contact with criminal justice system;Offending; Treatment; Availability and supply of drugs. The survey deals with drug-use and crime, and provides a measurement of self-reported drug misuse among a sample of individuals arrested in England and in Wales. It also highlights changes across the three surveys
Download: Full report (PDF 0.9MB)
Measuring the harm from illegal drugs: the Drug Harm Index 2005.
Goodwin A. UK. Home Office, 2007.
The Drug Harm Index (DHI) was developed as the overarching measure for the PSA target to reduce the harm caused by illegal drugs. It combines robust national indicators of harm from illegal drugs into a six-figure time-series index. The harm includes drug-related crime, community perceptions of drug problems, drug nuisance, and the various health consequences that aris from drug abuse. The 2005 update shows that the DHI has fallen from 89.1 in 2004 to 83.8 in 2005, a drop of 5.3 points or 5.9%.This compares to a fall of 18.2% between 2003 and 2004. The index has now fallen every year since 2001. The fall in the DHI between 2004 and 2005 is largely due to reductions in drug-related crime. In terms of the health-related indicators, drug-related hapatitis C cases had a noticeable downward impact on the DHI, but this was more than offset by an increase in drug-related deaths. The only other variable with a large upward impact on the DHI was robbery.
Download: Full report (PDF 94KB)
Seizures of drugs in England and Wales 2004
UK. Home Office., UK. Office for National Statistics, ONS, 2006.
Seizures and offender statistics for 2004.
Download: Full report (PDF 144KB)
Drug offenders in England and Wales 2004
UK. Home Office, 2005.
There were 105,570 drug offences recorded in England and Wales in 2004, a 21% fall from the 133,970 offences recorded in 2003. Class A offences rose by 2% to 36,350. There were 7,260 class B offences and 59,050 class C offences in 2004. Almost 85% of persons dealt with for drug offences in 2004 related to drug possession; 56% related specifically to cannabis. Cautions (44%) were the most common disposal used for possession offences in 2004. Dealing offences accounted for 14% of all drug offenders in 2004. The most commonly used disposal for convicted dealing offenders in 2004 was immediate custody (61%). Community sentences were used in 17% of cases. In 2004, 12% of drug offenders were female. Possession offences tend to be committed by those under the age of 25 (53%), dealing offences by people aged over 25 (60%), unlawful production/import/export offences committed by people aged 30 or over (61%)
web: http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/pdfs05/hosb2305.pdf
