Study challenges myth of Britain's rising drug crisis
By Philip Johnston, Home Affairs Editor

FEARS that Britain is in the grip of an escalating drug crisis could be
based on a myth, the Government said last night.

The largest survey of drug misuse yet conducted showed that drug taking was
not part of normal behaviour for the vast majority of young people. The
survey also suggested that the number of people aged 16 to 29 using drugs
had stabilised, with no significant increase between 1994 and 1996.

Drug taking also appeared to be dramatically on the wane in London
especially among teenagers using so called "dance drugs" such as ecstasy
but was still increasing in the North and the Midlands.

Ministers conceded that the figures remained "worryingly high", with about
one in two people admitting to have experimented with drugs at some point
in their lives and one in four taking drugs in the last year.

But George Howarth, Home Office minister, said it was "reassuring" that
overall numbers had not risen. He said: "This challenges the myth generated
by some people that drug misuse is escalating out of all control."

The latest figures come as the Government continues its search for a new
"drugs tsar" to coordinate strategy against misuse and the crime it
generates. Over the past decade the number of people convicted of
drugsrelated offences has trebled to more than 100,000 last year.

Two months ago, a group of coroners in northwest England appealed for
action to tackle a "terrifying escalation" in drugrelated deaths. They
said warnings about the dangers of drug misuse were "falling on deaf ears"
and the public was becoming immune to the problem.

But while police chiefs continue to see drugs as the main contributor to
rising inner city crime, the overall trend of misuse in England and Wales
looks less bleak than had been assumed.

The new findings come from the British Crime Survey conducted by the Home
Office. The survey of 11,000 households is seen as producing more
comprehensive picture than the annual crime statistics because it includes
offences that might go unreported.

Questions about drugtaking were first included in 1994 and the latest
survey, covering 1996, was the first opportunity for experts to compare
findings and track changes in consumption, especially among young people
aged 16 to 19.

They were given laptop computers to answer the questions privately,
limiting the risk of false information.

The key findings were:

* About 45 per cent of young people said they had taken a prohibited drug
at some time.

* About 20 per cent said they had taken drugs over the past year the same
level as in 1994 and 15 per cent had done so in the last month.

* Although London continued to have the highest level of misuse, this had
decreased among the 1619 age group from 45 per cent in 1994 to 29 per
cent. Use of ecstasy among teenagers had halved from 26 to 13 per cent.

* Drug taking in the North and Midlands had increased, especially among the
younger age group.

* Cannabis was the most widely used drug, followed by "hallucinants" such
as amphetamines, LSD, magic mushrooms, amyl nitrate and ecstasy. However,
only 11 per cent had taken any of these substances within the past year and
ecstasy was the least widely used.

* Consumption of heroin and crack cocaine was "extremely rare" with only
one per cent admitting to having tried them, though this may have been
underreported because they were "heavily stigmatised substances."

* Drug users were most likely to be unemployed males who drank and smoked
heavily.

Mr Howarth said the figures suggested that for many young people drug
taking was "a oneoff experience or something they would grow out of". He
said: "To some extent this is reassuring, but the figures are still
worryingly high around one in two young people has experimented with a
drug at some point in their lives, and one in four had taken a drug in the
last year.

"But we have to remember that for most young people drug taking is not part
of their normal behaviour just one in seven had taken a drug in the last
month."

Mr Howarth said that the Government was funding local initiatives involving
parents, communities, agencies and young people, to equip youngsters with
the information and skills they needed to be able to make sensible decisions.

Survey results (graphic):
http://www.telegraph.co.uk:80/graphics/97/9/19/ndrug19.gif