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The second drug prevalence survey of households in both Ireland and Northern Ireland was commissioned by the National Advisory Committee on Drugs in Ireland (NACD) and the Drug and Alcohol Information and Research Unit (DAIRU) within the Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety in Northern Ireland.

The survey, carried out by Ipsos MORI between October 2006 and May 2007, focused on obtaining prevalence rates for key illegal drugs on a lifetime, last year and last month basis. It sampled people between the ages of 15 and 64, resident in households in Ireland and Northern Ireland.
 

Definitions

Prevalence is measured by asking respondents to recall their drug use over a period of time. This survey uses the following terms to describe reported prevalence:

• Lifetime prevalence – ever having used a drug.
• Last year prevalence – have used a particular drug within the year prior to the survey.
• Last month prevalence – have used a drug in the 30 day period prior to the survey (often referred to as current use). 

Findings

Some key findings for Northern Ireland in 2006/07 were as follows;

• 28% of respondents aged 15-64 years reported taking any illegal drugs at some point in their life.
• cannabis was the most commonly used illegal drug, with 25% of all adults reporting ever having used it; 7% reported use in the year before the survey; and 3% in the month before the survey.
• after cannabis, the most commonly used illegal drugs were: poppers (8%), ecstasy (8%), magic mushrooms (7%), LSD (7%), amphetamines (6%), cocaine (5%) and solvents (4%).
• heroin and crack use were reported by less than 1% of the adult population.
• illegal drug use is generally more common among men than women: 34% of men reported lifetime use of any illegal drugs compared to 22% of women
• women reported higher use of anti-depressants and sedatives and tranquillisers compared to men; 28% of women reported using anti-depressants at some point compared to 13% of men, while 22% of women reported using sedatives and tranquillisers at some point compared to 18% of men.
• lifetime use of any illegal drugs was highest for respondents aged 25-34 years (42%) followed by use among respondents aged 15-24 (38%).
• prevalence rates for last year and last month use of any illegal drugs were highest for the youngest age band (15-24 years) at 19% and 6% respectively.

Prevalence (%) of drug use in Northern Ireland¹

Note: All figures are rounded to the nearest decimal place
i     For this study, "any illegal drugs" refers to amphetamines, cannabis, cocaine powder, crack, heroin, LSD, magic mushrooms, poppers and solvents.
ii    A change in the measurement of "other opiates" occurred in the 2006/07 survey and as such, comparative analysis between 2002/03 and 2006/07 is not appropriate. In 2006/07 the category "other opiates" included Codeine, Kapake, Diffs, Dikes, Peach, Fentanyl, Oxycodone and Buprenorphine.
iii   Poppers ie amyl or butyl nitrite.

Comparison of results from the 2002/3 and 2006/7 surveys 

All findings reported are statistically significant at least at the 5% level.
 

Lifetime use 

Since the 2002/03 survey;

• increases in lifetime use of any illegal drugs were reported in 2006/07 among;
  • all adults aged 15-64 years (from 20% to 28%)
  • young adults aged 15-34 (from 30.9% to 40.2%)
  • older adults aged 35-64 (from 11.5% to 19.3%)
  • females (from 13.5% to 22.1%)
  • males (from 26.7% to 33.9%)

• increases in lifetime use among all adults aged 15-64 of the following drugs were reported in 2006/07;
  • cannabis (from 16.8% to 24.7%)
  • cocaine (from 1.6% to 5.1%)
  • magic mushrooms (from 4.3% to 6.7%)
  • poppers (from 5.5% to 7.8%)
  • LSD (from 4.5% to 6.6%)
  • ecstasy (from 5.8% to 7.7%)
  • amphetamines (from 4.0% to 5.8%)

• the greatest increases in lifetime use of the following drugs were among the 25-34 age group: cannabis (from 26.2% to 37.3%), cocaine (from 3.1% to 10.8%), poppers (from 11.1% to 16.7%), LSD (from 9.5% to 14.9%), amphetamines (from 8.0% to 12.9%), and ecstasy (from 12.4% to 16.9%).
• increases were found among young adults aged 15-34 in lifetime use of cannabis (from 25.1% to 35.0%) and cocaine (from 2.9% to 9.1%).
• among males, increases were found in lifetime use of cannabis (from 23.3% to 30.1%), magic mushrooms (from 6.3% to 11.2%), cocaine (from 2.7% to 7.3%), and poppers (from 7.3% to 10.9%).
• among females, increases were found in lifetime use of the following drugs: cannabis (from 10.5% to 19.3%), amphetamines (from 1.8% to 4.4%), cocaine (from 0.5% to 2.9%), ecstasy (from 3.3% to 5.5%), LSD (from 2.0% to 3.5%), heroin (from 0.0% to 0.4%) and crack (from 0.1% to 0.4%).

Last year use

Since the 2002/03 survey;

• the greatest increase in last year use of any illegal drugs (from 8.9% to 15.5%) occurred among those aged 25-34.
• among all adults aged 15-64, increases were found in last year use of cannabis (from 5.4% to 7.2%), cocaine (from 0.5% to 1.9%) and poppers (from 0.5% to 1.3%).
• the greatest increase in last year use of cocaine (from 0.7% to 5.0%) occurred among the 25-34 age group, whereas the greatest increases in last year use of cannabis (from 2.2% to 4.1%) and poppers (from 1.1% to 2.7%) were found among females and those aged 15-34 respectively.
• among young adults (15-34 years), there was also an increase in last year use of cocaine (from 0.9% to 3.5%).

Last month use

Since the 2002/03 survey; 

• across the age groups, there was a decrease in last month use of cannabis (from 7.9% to 3.5%) among those aged 15-24.
• increases were found in last month use of cocaine (from 0.1% to 1.2%) among 25-34 year olds and amphetamines (from 0.0% to 0.7%) among those in the 35-44 age group.
• among females, increases were found in last month use of any illegal drugs (from 1.1% to 2.4%) and ecstasy (from 0.1% to 0.7%).

References

1. NACD and DAIRU. Drug use in Ireland and Northern Ireland – First Results from the 2006/2007 Drug Prevalence Survey – Bulletin 1. NACD and DAIRU, January 2008. Available at www.dhsspsni.gov.uk/first-results-200607-drug-prevalence-survey.pdf accessed 30 January 2008.