§ Mr. Alex CarlileTo ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many cases of drugs dependency have been recorded in Wales in each year since 1979; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Gwilym JonesThis information is not available in the form requested. Figures relating to the number of first admissions to mental illness hospitals for drugs-related diagnoses are published in "Mental Health Statistics for Wales". The latest information on the number of addicts in Wales notified by medical practitioners to the chief medical officer at the Home Office is published in "Statistics of Drug Addicts notified to the Home Office, UK 1991: Area tables". Copies of these publications are available in the Libraries of the House.
Further information is available from the Welsh drug misuse database, which was set up in April 1991. The database records anonymous information on individuals applying to voluntary/statutory drugs services of general practitioners in Wales with problems relating to the misuse of drugs. A total of 1,759 new cases of drugs abuse were recorded in 1992.