Drug misuse: key points

  • Surveys consistently indicate that cannabis is by far the most commonly used drug among all segments of the population.
  • The most recent Scottish estimate of the number of problematic drug users (opiates and benzodiazepines), aged between 15 and 64, was 59,600 in 2009/10. This corresponds to 1.71% of the population aged between 15 and 64. Two-thirds of problematic drug users are male.
  • In 2010, there were 485 drug related deaths. Most deaths (80%) were in persons aged under 45 and men accounted for 76% of deaths.
  • During 2009/10 there were 5,705 general acute hospital discharges with a diagnosis of drug misuse, a rate of 115 discharges per 100,000 population
  • The total number of persons newly diagnosed with HCV increased from a range of 1,533 - 1,634 reports during 2006 and 2008, to 2,032 in 2009 and 2,125 in 2010
  • The Drug Misuse Information Scotland website is a unique resource holding and linking to a vast range of information, research and statistics on drug misuse in Scotland, UK and Europe.

Section updates:

  • The last major update of this section was completed in March 2012.
  • The next major update is due to be carried out by end March 2013.