Drug use amongst young people in England in 2008

Selected statistics from the Information Centre’s annual report

Ever

• The proportions of young people who have ever taken drugs has fallen from 29% in 2001 to 22% in 2008

• The trend between 2001 and 2008 for those saying they have ever taken drugs is falling for all age groups– However in the last 2 years there has been a slight

increase in the number of 13 year olds who say they have taken drugs, this is largely due to increases in the number of boys saying they have taken drugs.

Proportion of pupils who have ever taken drugs

Proportion of pupils who have ever taken drugs, by age

Last Year

• The proportion of pupils who have taken drugs in the last year has fallen from 20% in 2001 to 15% in 2008

• The trend between 2001 and 2008 for those saying they have taken drugs in the last year is falling for all age groups– There has been a 3% increase in boys aged 13 who

say they have taken drugs in the last year from 2007 to 2008.

Proportion of pupils who have taken drugs in the last year

Proportion of pupils who have taken drugs in the last year, by age

Last Month

• The proportion of pupils who have taken drugs in the last month has fallen from 12% in 2001 to 8% in 2008

• The trend between 2001 and 2008 for those saying they have taken drugs in the last year is falling for all age groups– However, there has been a 4% increase in the

number of 13 year old boys who say they took drugs in the last month between 2007 (5%) and 2008 (9%)

Proportion of pupils who have taken drugs in the last month

Proportion of pupils who have taken drugs in the last month, by age

Individual drugs

• Falling reported cannabis use plays a considerable part in overall falls in drug use.– 13.4% in 2001 down to 9% in 2008

• There has been a rise in the proportion who say they have taken cocaine– 1.2% in 2001 up to 1.7% in 2008

• Class A drug use has remained relatively stable since 2001. In 2008 3.6% said they had taken a Class A drug in the last year

Proportion of boys who have taken individual drugs, by year

Proportion of girls who have taken individual drugs, by year

Individual drugs

• Older pupils are more likely to have taken drugs than younger ones

• Except in the case of volatile substances where 13 year olds are the highest users

Proportions of pupils who have taken individual drugs in the last year, by age

Summary of drugs taken by boys in the last year

Summary of drugs taken by girls in the last year

Number of occasions pupils have ever taken drugs

Proportion of pupils who usually take drugs at least once a month, by whether ever truanted or excluded

• Fewer young people say they are being offered drugs.

• Parents and teachers are seen as the most useful sources of information about drugs

• Boys are more likely to see radio and the internet as helpful sources of information than girls

• Girls are more likely to see newspapers or magazines as helpful sources of information than boys

Proportion of pupils who have ever been offered individual drugs

Proportion of pupils who have ever been offered drugs by age and sex

Sources of helpfulinformation about drugs, by sex

Sources of helpfulinformation about drugs, by sex

Proportion of pupils who remembered receiving lessons about drugs in the last year

How pupils felt lessons on drugs had helped them

How pupils felt lessons on drugs had helped them, by when last took drugs

• Smoking drinking and drug use among young people in England in 2008 can be downloaded from the Information Centre’s website at:www.ic.nhs.uk