HC Deb 08 February 1999 vol 325 c94W
Mr. Flynn

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate he has made of the percentage of people who have used(a) cannabis, (b) cocaine and (c) heroin in each of the past 10 years. [69261]

Mr. George Howarth

Figures for the percentage of people in the general population aged 16 to 59 using drugs during the last year, across England and Wales, are available on a reliable basis only from the 1994 and 1996 British Crime Surveys. These figures are given in the table. Equivalent findings from the 1998 British Crime Survey will become available when the report on the drugs component of the Survey is published later this year.

Table: Percentage of respondents aged 16–59 in the 1994 and 1996 British Crime Survey who used drugs in the last year
Drug 1994 1996
Cannabis 8 9
Cocaine 1 1
Crack 1 1
Heroin 1 1
1 Denotes less than 0.5 per cent.