§ Mr. Meacherasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what has been the estimated number of heroine addicts in each of the last 10 years.
§ Mr. MellorBecause of the nature of the activity, it is not possible to make any reliable estimate of the total number of heroine addicts in the United Kingdom. Information on addicts notified to the Home Office in the years 1973–82 whose reported drug of addiction was heroine is given in table 10 of "Statistics of the misuse of drugs in the United Kingdom, 1982". Home Office statistical bulletin issue 13/83, a copy of which has been placed in the Library of the House. Corresponding information for 1983 is not yet available. However, recent research commissioned by the Department of Health and Social Security in two urban areas suggests that the figures derived from notifications in those areas may be an underestimate to at least a five-fold degree.