Half of Scots adults know someone taking drugs

ALMOST half of adults know a friend or family member who has taken illegal drugs, according to a government survey.

A third of people also said they had tried cannabis, although drug misuse remains a minority pursuit across Scotland.

The Scottish Social Attitudes Survey 2009 dealing with drugs found that 47 per cent of Scottish adults know of a friend or family member who has used illegal drugs, up from 41 per cent nine years ago.

People under 45 are more likely to have had an indirect experience of drug use, according to the survey.

The Liberal Democrat justice spokesman Robert Brown said: "It is astonishing that almost half of Scottish adults know someone who has taken illegal drugs. This really does reflect the reality of how normalised drug-taking has become in our society.

"There is no quick fix to changing peoples' attitude to drug-taking but people must have access to information about the devastating impact that taking drugs can have on their lives and their children."