§ Mr. Sackvilleasked the Secretary of State for Social Services (1) how many people in each of the last five years have been notified to the chief medical officer as addicted to cocaine; and what percentage of total notifications these figures represent;
(2) how many persons notified to the chief medical officer over the last five years specified cocaine as their principal drug addiction.
§ Mr. MellorI have been asked to reply.
The available information for the years 1980 to 1983 is given in the following table; corresponding figures for 1984 are not yet available. In cases where the person is reported as addicted to more than one drug, the notifications do not indicate the principal drug of addiction.
70W
Drug addicts notified to the Home Office during the years 1980 to 1983 as addicted to cocaine. United Kingdom 1980 1981 1982 1983 New addicts Number reported as addicted to: Cocaine alone 11 23 35 42 Cocaine in combination with other drugs 136 151 179 303 Total 147 174 214 345 Number as a percentage of all new addicts notified Cocaine alone 0.7 1.0 1.3 1.0 Cocaine in combination with other drugs 8.5 6.7 6.4 7.2 Total 9.2 7.7 7.7 8.2 Former addicts Number reported as addicted to: Cocaine alone 2 3 2 5 Cocaine in combination with other drugs 38 65 69 129 Total 40 68 71 134 Number as a percentage of all former addicts notified Cocaine alone 0.2 0.3 0.2 0.3 Cocaine in combination with other drugs 4.5 6.1 5.2 7.7 Total 4.8 6.4 5.4 8.0
1980 1981 1982 1983 All addicts Number reported as addicted to: Cocaine alone 13 26 37 47 Cocaine in combination with other drugs 174 216 248 432 Total 187 242 285 479 Number as a percentage of all addicts notified Cocaine alone 0.5 0.8 0.9 0.8 Cocaine in combination with other drugs 7.1 6.5 6.0 7.4 Total 7.7 7.3 6.9 8.2