The numbers game

The number of drug dependent people has doubled since 1993. This trend emerges from data published by National Statistics in Psychiatric Morbidity Among Adults, 2000.

Indication of drug dependency in 2 per cent of women and 5 per cent of men produces a figure of about 2 million people in England and Wales. The dependence rate was highest among those aged 16 to 24 years of age: 8 per cent for women and 16 per cent for men.

Dependence on cannabis was the most common followed by ecstasy and amphetamine.

As far as use of illicit drugs is concerned, 8 per cent of women and 13 per cent of men reported using them during the past year. Among the 16 to 24 year olds, the figures were 26 per cent of women and 34 per cent of men. In the case of cannabis, particularly relevant in the context of the current debate on legalisation, the percentages were 25 for women and 33 for men.

As with illicit drugs, hazardous drinking was more common among younger people: 53 per cent of 16 to 24 year old men and 30 per cent of women. According to the report "mild to moderate alcohol dependence was also more common in the younger age group but the few cases of severe dependence were found in those aged over 30". Overall, 26 per cent of those questioned reported hazardous levels of drinking and of these 7 per cent showed symptoms of dependence on alcohol. Men were much more likely than women to drink in this way: 38 as opposed to 15 per cent.

National Statistics have also produced Drinking: adults' behaviour and knowledge in 2000. It emerges from this report that many people are still uncertain about units and that daily benchmarks are having little effect.

There was a strong association with age. "Younger respondents were more likely to know about alcohol units than were older people: 82 per cent of those aged 16-24 had heard of alcohol units, compared with only 62 per cent of those aged 65 and over." This is not surprising, given that young people, on average, drink more than older people and knowledge of units is related to alcohol consumption. In all age groups heavier drinkers were the most likely to have heard of measuring alcohol in units.

Overall, those groups most likely to know about units were women, younger people, those from non-manual social classes and higher income earners, and moderate or heavy drinkers.

It is also important that people know the alcohol content of the particular drinks they consume. In 2000, 50 per cent of those who had drum beer in the last year were aware that a unit was half a pint. One in five, however, got it wrong, the most common misconception being that a unit of beer was a pint. Nearly a third of beer drinkers had either never heard of units or were unable to say what a unit of beer was. The report says that awareness of the "alcohol content of wine and spirits was a little higher: 58 per cent of wine drinkers knew that one glass was a unit of wine and 60 per cent of those who drank spirits were aware that a single measure was one unit".

There has been a steady increase in the percentage of those who know about daily benchmarks from 54 per cent in 1997 to 58 per cent in 1998 to 64 per cent in 2000. This, of course, suggests that a third of the population is unaware that drinking 4 or more units a day for men and 3 for women is not recommended. Knowledge of the benchmark's existence means that people were aware of what they actually were. 45 per cent of respondents "could not attempt an answer to that question". Ironically, the largest proportion of those who knew about daily benchmarks consisted drinkers who exceeded the limit. This may suggest that benchmarks are having little effect in educating people to restrict their drinking to recommended levels.