A report examined illicit drug use in relation to ethnic background, using the 2001-02 British Crime Survey. The highest prevalence of illicit drug use was found among those of mixed ethic background. Among all those aged 16-24, levels of drug use were lower for black people than for those from a white or mixed background. Around a tenth of people from a white or a mixed background had used a 'Class A' drug in the previous year, compared with 2 per cent of black people. A similar pattern was evident for the 25-35 group.
Source: Rebbecca Aust and Nicola Smith, Ethnicity and Drug Use: Key findings from the 2001/2002 British Crime Survey, Research Findings 209, Home Office (020 7273 2084)
Links: Findings (pdf)
Date: 2003-Dec
A report examined the prevalence and trends of illicit drug use, using the 2002-03 British Crime Survey. Of all those aged 16-59, 12 per cent had taken an illicit drug, and 3 per cent had used a 'Class A' drug, in the previous year. This equated to around 4 million illicit drug users and around 1 million Class A drug users. Among people aged 16-24, 28 per cent had used at least one illicit drug in the previous year.
Source: Joanne Condon and Nicola Smith, Prevalence of Drug Use: Key findings from the 2002/2003 British Crime Survey, Research Findings 229, Home Office (020 7273 2084)
Links: Findings (pdf) | Guardian report
Date: 2003-Dec
A report examined drug use by people attending mainstream nightclubs in the south east of England, the role of drugs in the dance culture, and strategies used by drug-taking clubbers to minimise risks. It was found that 79 per cent of the clubbers had taken drugs at some time in their life, compared with 50 per cent of those aged 16-29 surveyed for the British Crime Survey 2000.
Source: Ann Deehan and Esther Saville, Calculating the Risk: Recreational drug use among clubbers in the south east of England, Online Report 43/03, Home Office (web publication only)
Links: Online report (pdf) | Findings (pdf) | Guardian report
Date: 2003-Dec
A report said TV soaps encouraged binge drinking. Campaigners criticised programme makers for unrealistic and irresponsible portrayals of heavy drinking, which did not reflect the harm caused by excessive alcohol consumption.
Source: Anders Hansen, The Portrayal of Alcohol and Alcohol Consumption in Television News and Drama Programmes, Alcohol Concern (020 7928 7377) | Press release 19 December 2003, Alcohol Concern
Links: Report (pdf) | Alcohol Concern press release | Guardian report
Date: 2003-Dec
A report examined geographical variations in illicit drug use in England and Wales, using the 2001-02 British Crime Survey. London had higher levels of use of 'Class A' and any illicit drug than the national average. The East Midlands and Wales had lower than average levels.
Source: Rebbecca Aust and Joanne Condon, Geographical Variations in Drug Use: Key findings from the 2001/02 British Crime Survey, Statistical Bulletin 15/03, Home Office (020 7273 2084)
Links: Bulletin (pdf)
Date: 2003-Dec
A committee of MPs warned that drug abuse in Northern Ireland was increasing rapidly, and that the government might find itself unprepared to deal with the health, social and economic consequences.
Source: The Illegal Drugs Trade and Drug Culture in Northern Ireland, Eighth Report (Session 2002-03), HC 1217-I, House of Commons Northern Ireland Affairs Select Committee, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Report
Date: 2003-Nov
The government announced an expansion of a programme to identify and treat criminals who used hardcore drugs. The criminal justice intervention programme, which had been running in 30 of the highest crime areas since April 2003, would be extended to 36 police divisions across England at a cost of 442 million over three years. (Under the programme class A drug users are referred to drug workers while in police custody and are guided into treatment.)
Source: Press release 18 November 2003, Home Office (0870 000 1585)
Links: Home Office press release | Guardian report
Date: 2003-Nov
The government announced that arrest referral schemes, providing advice to drug-using offenders in custody on how to get treatment, were to be extended to under-18s in ten pilot areas. (The scheme was already available nationally for drug-using offenders over the age of 18.)
Source: Press release 23 October 2003, Home Office (0870 000 1585)
Links: Home Office press release
Date: 2003-Oct
The European Union drug agency said that cannabis use among teenagers in the United Kingdom had begun to stabilise, but only because it was so widespread that the market had become saturated. It raised concerns about the long-term health implications of the emergence of a significant new group of teenage boys who were using cannabis intensively - more than 20 times a month.
Source: 2003 Annual Report on the State of the Drugs Problem in the European Union and Norway, European Monitoring Center for Drugs and Drug Addiction, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Report (pdf) | EMCDDA press release (pdf) | Guardian report
Date: 2003-Oct
A study found that 80 per cent of offenders given drug treatment and testing orders (under a pilot scheme between 1998 and 2000) were reconvicted within two years. Completion rates for DTTOs were low, with only 30 per cent of offenders finishing their orders successfully. There were statistically significant differences in reconviction rates between those who completed their orders (53 per cent) and those whose orders were revoked (91 per cent).
Source: Mike Hough, Anna Clancy, Tim McSweeney and Paul Turnbull, The Impact of Drug Treatment and Testing Orders on
Offending: Two-year reconviction results, Research Findings 184, Home Office (020 7273 2084)
Links: Findings (pdf) | Drugscope press release
Date: 2003-Sep
A study provided an overview of the extent of alcohol-related violence between 1995 and 1999. The rate of alcohol-related violence fell significantly (by 21 per cent) between 1995 and 1997, remaining stable between 1997 and 1999 (consistent with the overall trend in violence over the period). Almost a half of incidents of domestic assault involved perpetrators under the influence of alcohol.
Source: Tracey Budd, Alcohol-related Assault: Findings from the British Crime Survey, Online Report 35/03, Home Office (web publication only)
Links: Report (pdf)
Date: 2003-Sep
An official review of licensing laws in Scotland recommended allowing 24-hour drinking in selected areas, while imposing stricter codes of conduct for licensees, in an effort to cut alcohol-related crime and illness. The proposal were endorsed by the Scottish Executive and issued for consultation.
Source: The Nicholson Committee Review of Liquor Licensing Law in Scotland, Scottish Executive, TSO (0870 606 5566) | Press release 19.8.03, Scottish Executive (0131 556 8400)
Links: Report (pdf) | Report | SE press release
Date: 2003-Aug
A report said that drug courts were likely to be viable in Scotland, and could prove to be effective in addressing drug- related crime.
Source: Gill McIvor, Susan Eley, Margaret Malloch and Rowdy Yates, Establishing Drug Courts in Scotland: Early experiences of the pilot drug courts in Glasgow and Fife, Research Findings 71, Scottish Executive (0131 244-2097)
Links: Report (pdf) | Glasgow findings | Fife findings | Fife full report | SE press release (1)
Date: 2003-Aug
The Licensing Act 2003 received Royal assent. The Act combined proposals for more flexible opening hours for pubs and bars in England and Wales with new measures against alcohol-related crime and disorder.
Source: Licensing Act 2003, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Text of Act | LGA press release
Date: 2003-Jul
Nearly 56 kilograms of crack cocaine was recovered by law enforcement agencies in the United Kingdom in 2001, more than double the amount in 2000. There was a 16 per cent increase in the amount of heroin seized in the same period; and the number of doses/tablets of ecstasy-type drugs seized rose by 17 per cent. The overall number of drug seizures rose by just under 5 per cent to about 131,000.
Source: John Corkery and Jennifer Airs, Seizures of Drugs in the UK 2001, Research Findings 202, Home Office (020 7273 2084)
Links: Findings (pdf) | Home Office press release | Guardian report
Date: 2003-Jun
The Licensing Bill was given a third reading. The Bill combined proposals for more flexible opening hours for pubs and bars in England and Wales with new measures against alcohol-related crime and disorder.
Source: House of Commons Hansard, Debate 16.6.03, columns 83-183, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Hansard | Text of Bill
Date: 2003-Jun
A report advocated providing facilities where addicts could use drugs in safe and hygienic conditions, reducing the risk to themselves and tackling open drugs misuse. It also called for better resourced treatment services for those addicted to hard drugs. It said that overly punitive drugs laws were serving to undermine the effective development of strategies to support and treat crack and heroin addicts.
Source: Marcus Roberts, Drugs and Crime: From warfare to welfare, National Association for the Care and Resettlement of Offenders (020 7582 6500)
Links: Report (pdf) | Press release
Date: 2003-May
An inspectorate report said the National Probation Service is making good progress in the national roll-out of 'drug treatment and testing orders': but it also highlighted a number of areas where improvement was necessary, including the monitoring of women offenders and those from minority ethnic groups, and 'unacceptable' regional variations in delivery.
Source: A Long Way in a Short Time: Inspection of the implementation of drug treatment and testing orders by the National Probation Service, HM Inspectorate of Probation (020 7035 2200)
Links: Report (pdf)
Date: 2003-Mar
Two studies explored the relationship between alcohol consumption and offending among people aged 18-24. 39 per cent were classified as binge drinkers (those who got very drunk at least once a month). Men were more likely to binge drink (48 per cent) than women (31 per cent). Binge drinkers were more likely to offend than other young adults. Most of the young adults surveyed had experienced or witnessed assaults or fighting while out drinking.
Source: Renuka Engineer, Annabelle Phillips, Julian Thompson and Jonathan Nicholls, Drunk and Disorderly: Qualitative study of binge drinking among 18- to 24-year-olds, Research Study 262, Home Office (020 7273 2084) | Anna Richardson and Tracey Budd, Alcohol, Crime and Disorder: Study of young adults, Research Study 263, Home Office (020 7273 2084) | Anna Richardson, Tracey Budd, Renuka Engineer, Annabelle Phillips, Julian Thompson and Jonathan Nicholls, Drinking, Crime and Disorder, Research Findings 185, Home Office (020 7273 2084)
Links: Study 262 (pdf) | Study 263 (pdf) | Findings (pdf) | Press release
Date: 2003-Mar
An evaluation of a pilot drug-testing scheme suggested that police testing alone does not affect the behaviour of those taking drugs. However, the expectation that test results will affect court decisions appeared to be a potential deterrent for some offenders. Testing also appeared to support engagement by the police with arrest referral schemes. There was little evidence to suggest that testing affects decisions relating to a prison sentence. (The Criminal Justice and Court Services Act 2000 gave the police powers to drug test certain detainees in police custody.)
Source: Matrix MHA and Nacro, Evaluation of Drug Testing in the Criminal Justice System in Nine Pilot Areas, Research Findings 180, Home Office (020 7273 2084)
Links: Findings (pdf) | Press release
Date: 2003-Mar
A project aimed at reducing alcohol-related crime produced an overall decrease of four per cent in incidents involving alcohol-related assaults in the first year of its operation, despite a ten per cent increase in licensed premise capacity in the locality involved. (The Tackling Alcohol-related Street Crime project was launched in July 2000 under the Home Office 'targeted policing initiative', in central Cardiff and Cardiff Bay.)
Source: Mike Maguire and Hilary Nettleton, Reducing Alcohol-related Violence and Disorder: Evaluation of the TASC project, Research Study 265, Home Office (020 7273 2084)
Links: Study (pdf) | Press release
Date: 2003-Mar
A report developed guidance for local 'crime and disorder reduction partnerships' on collecting and analysing data on alcohol-related crime and disorder. It recommended the use of two complementary approaches: a direct approach based on establishing a link between alcohol consumption by a specific offender and a specific offence; and an indirect approach where data are not reliant upon subjective judgements about alcohol having been consumed by a specific offender.
Source: John Tierney and Dick Hobbs, Alcohol-related Crime and Disorder Data: Guidance for local partnerships, Online Report 08/03, Home Office (web publication only)
Links: Report (pdf) | Guidance (pdf)
Date: 2003-Feb
A pilot scheme was announced to help those leaving prison stay off drugs. The scheme, called 'Prospects', will provide an integrated support programme for short-term prisoners going from prison to approved premises and on to longer-term accommodation. It will seek to cut crime by targeting local offenders and focusing on offending behaviour, relapse prevention and life skills.
Source: Press release 11.2.03, Home Office (0870 000 1585)
Links: Press release
Date: 2003-Feb
A United Nations agency said that there would be worldwide repercussions of the United Kingdom's reclassification of cannabis to a 'class C' drug (for which possession is no longer an arrestable offence). But campaigners said the report contained 'dubious science and misleading conclusions'.
Source: Report of the International Narcotics Control Board for 2002, International Narcotics Control Board/United Nations (+4 122 917 2600) | Press release 26.2.03, DrugScope (020 7928 1211)
Links: Report (pdf) | INCB press release | DrugScope press release
Date: 2003-Feb
The government announced a 107 million package of measures to help steer vulnerable young people away from a life of drugs and crime. For the first time treatment and drug services will be targeted at young people under 18 who are starting to use 'class A' drugs and turning to crime to fund their habit. A new youth crime programme will work directly with young drug users in communities particularly affected by drug-related crime.
Source: Press release 3.2.03, Home Office (0870 000 1585)
Links: Press release
Date: 2003-Feb
A report argued against the use of imprisonment for drug-use offences, based on considerations of penal justice, cost effectiveness, harm prevention and social inclusion.
Source: Making Sense of Drugs and Crime: Drugs, Crime and Penal Policy, Scottish Consortium on Crime & Criminal Justice (0131 669 4484)
Links: Report (pdf)
Date: 2003-Jan