Safer Communities and Justice Statistics Monthly Data Report: September 2024

This report contains summary statistics covering a number of important justice and safer communities areas. It is published with up to date statistics every month.


Summary statistics on drugs

The proportion of adults reporting use of comparable illicit drugs rose between 2008-09 and 2018-20. Results from the Scottish Crime and Justice Survey (SCJS) showed that in 2018-20, 9.7% of respondents reported taking one or more of these drugs in the 12 months prior to interview. This was an increase from 7.6% in 2008-09 and 7.4% in 2017-18. The drugs listed in the survey questionnaire are the same for both 2017-18 and 2018-20, enabling a direct comparison.

One in eight people used illicit drugs in 2021. The most recently published statistics, from the 2021 Scottish Health Survey, showed that 12% of respondents used one or more of these types of drugs in the 12 months before interview. This is a different survey and, although the methodology is similar, the results may be different in a survey focused on health rather than crime. As a result this estimate is not shown as continuous with the SCJS.

Percentage of adults reporting use of comparable illicit drugs in the 12 months prior to interview, as reported in the Scottish Crime & justice Survey, 2008-09 to 2018-20 (the latter 2018-19 and 2019-20 combined) and the Scottish Health Survey, 2021. Last updated February 2024.

To have a more comparable measure since 2008-09, the figures in this chart exclude poppers, glues, solvents, gas or aerosol and prescription only painkillers not prescribed to the respondent.

Contact

Email: justice_analysts@gov.scot

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