Scottish Crime and Justice Survey 2012/13: Drug Use

Executive Summary

Introduction

The Scottish Crime and Justice Survey (SCJS) is a large-scale survey measuring people's experience and perceptions of crime in Scotland. The survey is conducted biennially and based on a representative sample of adults (aged 16 and over), living in private households in Scotland. The aims of the SCJS are to:

• Provide a valid and reliable measure of people's experiences of crime, including services provided to victims of crime.
• Examine trends in the number and nature of crimes in Scotland over time.
• Examine the varying risk of crime for different groups of adults in the population.
• Collect information about people's experiences of, and attitudes to a range of crime and justice related issues.

The main survey is based on 12,045 face-to-face interviews which are conducted in private households. Respondents are also asked to answer a separate self-completion module on more confidential and sensitive issues, including drug taking, partner abuse, sexual victimization and stalking. The self-completion section of the SCJS 20102/13 questionnaire was completed by 10,235 respondents, which represents 85% of all respondents.

This report specifically examines the findings from the self-completion questionnaire on illicit drug use in Scotland^[1]. The 2012/13 survey is the fourth year of the SCJS, with the first being conducted in 2008/09, although crime and victimisation surveys have been carried out in Scotland since the early 1980s.

The report has two substantive chapters considering: the prevalence of illicit drug use in Scotland exploring trends in self-reported drug use and the experiences of those who reported drug use Scotland. The report examines self-reported illicit drug use by adults aged over 16 using three time periods: in the last month, in the last year and ever.