Catriona Matheson: No need to panic but help is required

THE figure of one in four for drug use is not that high and is fairly consistent with what you would expect.

It’s certainly also not as high as it sounds and this level of cannabis use and occasional party drugs use is something that’s existed for some time now.

It’s not hugely surprising, but it shows that people are probably using drugs more on a recreational basis and it reflects that people have differing views on drug use.

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There’s a suggestion that the drugs are being taken when people are younger – perhaps not in the teen years, but during the university years.

The taking of drugs represented in the one in four figure suggests that it has probably been at this level since the late 1990s.

I don’t believe that this represents a big problem, as we’re talking mainly about recreational drugs, with only a small proportion of people going onto other substances.

Also the figures published yesterday don’t take into account the fact that people can get access to some drugs very easily.

The one in four figure is likely to stay at that level for some time, but it doesn’t take into account the prevalence of legal highs and alcohol abuse.

Overall there has been a reduction in drug use and this suggests that education and treatment programmes have had some success during the last few years.

Clearly there has been a very big focus in getting people with drug addictions into treatment and we’re seeing people with more severe drug problems being managed very well.

If we’re just looking at reducing drug dependency then there’s a lot still to be done in terms

• Catriona Matheson, drugs and substance abuse expert at the University of Aberdeen

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