§ Mr. FlynnTo ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what is his estimate of the current number and percentage of under 25-year-olds who have access to(a) heroin and (b) cocaine; and if he will set targets for these figures for each of the next 10 years. [86954]
§ Dr. Jack CunninghamThere are no figures at this time which relate to drug use specifically among the under-25 age group. Figures from a recently published national Health Education Authority survey undertaken in 1996 show that approximately 13 per cent. of 11 to 35-year-olds claim to have been offered heroin, with approximately 1 per cent. claiming to have used it; and approximately 14 per cent. of 11 to 35-year-olds claim to have been offered cocaine, with approximately 3 per cent. claiming to have used it.
I have no plans to set annual targets for reduced access to heroin and cocaine among young people. However, in the UK Anti-Drugs Co-ordinator's first annual report and plan, I published a target to reduce substantially the proportion of people under 25 reporting use of illegal drugs in the last month and previous year, and to reduce the proportion of young people using the drugs which cause the greatest harm—heroin and cocaine—by 50 per cent. by 2008 and by 25 per cent. by 2005.
I will, however, shortly be commissioning new research to establish more robust baseline information for this year, from which I will measure our future success.
127W
§ Mr. FlynnTo ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office if he will visit(a) the Netherlands to assess that country's claims of a reduction in heroin use and (b) Switzerland to assess that country's reported reduction in drug-related crime. [86946]
§ Dr. Jack CunninghamI have no plans at the moment to visit either the Netherlands or Switzerland, but will continue to monitor their anti-drug strategies.