Drug Misuse Declared: Findings from the 2006/07 British Crime Survey, England and Wales

• The 2006/07 BCS estimates that 35.5% of 16 to 59 year olds have used one or more illicit drugs in their lifetime, 10.0% used one or more illicit drugs in the last year and 5.9% in the last month.

• The survey also estimates that 13.8% of those aged 16 to 59 have used a Class A drug at least once in their lifetime, 3.4% used at least one Class A drug in the last year and 1.7% last month.

• Cannabis is the drug most likely to be used. The 2006/07 BCS indicates that 8.2% of 6 to 59 year olds reported using cannabis in the last year. Cocaine is the next most ommonly used drug with 2.6% reporting use of any form of it (either cocaine powder r crack cocaine) in the last year.

• Use of ecstasy in the last year is estimated at 1.8%, amyl nitrite at 1.4% and amphetamine use at 1.3%. The use of hallucinogens (LSD and magic mushrooms) in he last year was reported by 0.7% of 16 to 59 year olds.

• This is the first year that questions on ketamine have been asked in the BCS. Use of ketamine in the past year was reported by 0.3% of 16 to 59 year olds.

• It is estimated that just over 11 and a quarter million people aged 16 to 59 in Englandand Wales have used illicit drugs in their lifetime, while just under three and a quarter million are estimated to have used illicit drugs in the last year and almost two million in the last month.

• It is also estimated that just under four and a half million people aged 16 to 59 have used Class A drugs in their lifetime with just over one million having used them in the last year and just over 500 thousand in the last month.

• When looking at specific types of drugs, it is estimated that just over 800,000 people used cocaine powder and just over 550,000 people used ecstasy in the last year.

• The proportion of 16 to 59 year olds who used any illicit drug in the last year was lower in 2006/07 than in 1998, mainly due to successive declines in cannabis use since 2003/04.

• There was no statistically significant difference between 2005/06 and 2006/07 in the overall level of any illicit drug use in the last year.

• Class A drug use in the past year among 16 to 59 year olds was higher in 2006/07 than in 1998. This is mainly due to a comparatively large increase in cocaine powder use between 1998 and 2000. However between 2000 and 2006/07 the use of Class A drugs overall remained stable. The use of hallucinogens decreased overall between 1998 and 2006/07.

• The figures for 2006/07, compared to 2005/06, show a stable pattern for all Class A
  drugs, with the exception of magic mushrooms which show a decrease in the past
  year.