§ Mr. Ian Stewartasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what information he has available about the number of tranquillisers issued on prescription each year since 1967.
§ Mr. MoyleInformation about the number of tranquillisers issued on prescription—i.e., total quantities—is not available. However, in 1975, the latest year for which figures are available, 20,540,000 prescriptions for tranquillisers 549W were dispensed in England*. The figures for earlier years are shown below.
Year Number of Prescriptions 1974 20,083,000 1973 19,149,000 1972 18,143,000 1971 17,062,000 1970 16,039,000 1969 15,370,000 1968 14,863,000 1967 13,605,000 The figures are obtained from a sample of approximately 1 in 200 prescriptions dispensed.