As you’ve probably noticed, there won’t be one big series of posts on independence this year. Instead, there’ll be shorter three/or four-part series – including revisiting and updating topics I’ve covered in the past.
One of those topics is drug policy and independence, first looked at on the old Oggy Bloggy Ogwr in 2014. Alcohol (IndyWales & Alcohol) and tobacco/nicotine (IndyWales, Smoking & Vaping) have been looked at separately, but for the sake of clarification, this is about controlled/illegal recreational drugs.
To kick things off, a science lesson.
The Office of National Statistics regularly collects data on drug use as part of the annual Crime Survey for EnglandandWales1.
Illegal drug use in general
Overall use of illegal recreational drugs has fallen since 1997, but it did start to increase between 2015 and 2020.
Some drugs – such as ecstasy, nitrous oxide and cannabis – have seen marked declines in use of up to 40% or more. There hasn’t been any change in the use of cocaine, while the use of hallucinogens increased slightly.
9.3% of people aged 16-59 in Wales reported using a drug in the year to December 2023, with 2.8% reporting using a Class A drug – both are slightly lower rates than in England (9.5% and 3.3% respectively).
Perhaps unsurprisingly, rates of drug use are higher in the 16-24 age group. Rates have remained fairly consistent across the 16-59 age group as a whole – albeit slightly increasing since 1997.
Cannabis is the most commonly used illegal recreational drug, making up around 80% of reported illegal recreational drug use in 2023.
The majority of people who say they’ve used drugs have done so infrequently (once a month or less). The proportion of people taking drugs frequently (daily or multiple times a week) is around 6% across the 16-59 age group.
Only 12% of people obtained illegal drugs from a known dealer; a near majority (45.7%) got them through a friend, neighbour or colleague. Up to 15% obtained nitrous oxide or new psychoactive substances from a shop.
38% said it would be either “easy” or “very easy” for them to get drugs within 24 hours – though this is slightly lower than previous years. It’s generally harder to get hold of new psychoactive substances or nitrous oxide, but 25% still said it was “easy”.
Demographics and personal circumstances
Males are more likely to have taken any illegal drug in the year to March 2023 (11.6% of 16-59-year-olds) than females (7.3%). However, the proportion of males taking drugs has fallen by a much faster rate (4 percentage points) than females (1.2 percentage points) since 1997.
Young women (16-24 year olds) were marginally more likely to use powder cocaine and amphetamines than men of the same age. The opposite is true for most other drugs.
Drug use rates are also higher amongst single-person households and lower-income households – though cocaine use is more common amongst higher-income households. Also, lower and higher income households have similar rates of use of Class A drugs more generally compared to those in the middle.
Contrary to certain predjudicial stereotypes, there isn’t that much of a difference in drug use in terms of race – though there were markedly lower rates of drug use amongst people from Asian ethnic backgrounds (2.8%) and higher rates amongst people with mixed ethnic backgrounds (14.2%) and from white backgrounds (10.7%).
14.1% of people with a disability used an illegal recreational drug in 2023 compared to 8.8% of non-disabled. Drug use rates were also significantly higher amongst gay (22.1%), trans (22.4%) and bisexual (30.8%) communities compared to heterosexuals (8.3%).
Rates of drug use were higher amongst those saying they experienced anxiety, low levels of happiness and low levels of satisfaction with life. Drug use rates were also higher amongst people who frequently visit pubs and bars, full-time students and the unemployed.
1. Office of National Statistics (14th December 2023). “Drug misuse in England and Wales: year ending March 2023”. Available at: https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/crimeandjustice/articles/drugmisuseinenglandandwales/yearendingmarch2023
