Older drug users on the rise but opiates trend reducing in young

DRUG use among people over 35 has increased by a third in the past four years, according to new figures.

An NHS report has indicated that there could now be up to 61,000 drug users between the ages of 15 and 64 in Scotland, an increase of more than 4,000 since 2006.

The apparent increase was driven chiefly by the rise in drug use among people over 35.

About one in every 95 people aged between 35-64 is a drug user (1.18 per cent), up from fewer than one in 100 (0.89 per cent) in 2006. The report, entitled Estimating the National and Local Prevalence of Problem Drug Use in Scotland 2009-10, found a drop in use among 15- to 34-year-olds.

The Glasgow City Council area had the highest number of individuals with problem drug use, with an estimated 13,900.

“Although the estimate of problem drug use prevalence was higher in 2009-10 compared to 2006, it cannot be said conclusively that actual prevalence has increased,” the report said.

“However, we can be reasonably sure that actual problem drug-use prevalence has not declined since 2006.”

Commenting on the figures yesterday, community safety minister Roseanna Cunningham said: “These figures confirm what we had suspected – that Scotland’s long legacy of problem drug misuse remains unacceptably high.

“However, it is reassuring that this prevalence report indicates a reducing trend in young people who are using opiates – pointing to the fact that we are dealing with, sadly, a long legacy of drug use.”