Scottish Schools Adolescent Lifestyle and Substance Use Survey (SALSUS): Drug Use Report 2015

3 Availability of drugs

Ever been offered drugs

19% of 13 year olds and 42% of 15 year olds have ever been offered drugs.

Among both age groups, the proportion of pupils who had ever been offered drugs declined between 1998 and 2013. However, there has been an increase in the proportion who have ever been offered drugs between 2013 and 2015 (for example, 39% of 15 year old boys were offered drugs in 2013, compared with 45% in 2015) (Figure 3.1).

Among both age groups, boys were more likely than girls to have been offered drugs (Figure 3.1).

Figure 3.1 Proportion of pupils ever offered drugs, by sex and age (1998-2015)

Q. Have you ever been offered any of the following drugs?

Base: all pupils (for full base sizes please see Appendix B)

Types of drugs ever offered

15 year old pupils were most commonly offered cannabis. 37% of all 15 year olds had been offered cannabis, 17% had been offered ecstasy and 11% had been offered cocaine (Figure 3.2). 13% of 15 year olds had been offered some form of New Psychoactive Substances ( NPS).

There has been a small increase in the proportion of 15 year olds who have been offered cannabis (34% in 2013, compared with 37% in 2015) and cocaine (8% in 2013, compared with 11% in 2015). However, the most notable increase has been in the proportion who have ever been offered ecstasy, which has increased from 9% in 2013 to 17% in 2015.

15 year old boys were more likely than 15 year old girls to have been offered cannabis: 40% of all boys had been offered cannabis, compared with 35% of all girls.

Figure 3.2 Drugs offered to 15 year olds (2013-2015) ^[6]

Q. Have you ever been offered any of the following drugs?

Base: all 15 year old pupils (11,401)

Source of drugs

Among pupils who had ever taken drugs, it was most common to get them from friends (friends of the same age or older) (Figure 3.3).

There has been no change in the sources of drugs since 2013.

Girls were more likely than boys to get drugs from an older friend (33% of girls, compared with 24% of boys) or from their boyfriend/girlfriend (6% of girls, compared with 1% of boys).

Figure 3.3 Source of drugs, by age (2015)

Q. The last time you used drugs, how did you get them?

Base: 13 year olds who have ever used drugs (477), 15 year olds who have ever used drugs (1,610)

Ease of obtaining drugs

20% of 13 year olds and 46% of 15 year olds thought it would be 'very' or 'fairly' easy to get drugs if they wanted to.

The proportion of pupils who thought it was 'very' or 'fairly' easy to get drugs had been decreasing gradually over time. However, there has been an increase among all groups between 2013 and 2015 (for example, 17% of 13 year olds boys thought it would be 'fairly' or 'very' easy to get drugs in 2013, compared with 23% in 2015) (Figure 3.4).

Among both age groups, boys were more likely than girls to think it would be 'very' or 'fairly' easy to get illegal drugs if they wanted to.

Figure 3.4 Proportion of pupils who think it would be very or fairly easy to get drugs, by age and sex (2002-2015)

Q. How easy would it be for you to get illegal drugs if you wanted to?

Base: all pupils (for full base sizes please see Appendix B)