The document contains information from various sources about drugs, alcohol, and related harms. It includes statistics on deaths in custody, drug and alcohol prices in different regions, alcohol sales data showing cheap prices, drug use in prisons has increased significantly with almost daily use, childhood abuse is linked to various mental health and substance use issues later in life, injecting equipment provision outlets in Scotland have seen a large rise in attendances, approximately one in six people with drug dependence receive treatment globally, alcohol-related deaths are much higher in males than females and increase with age.

1. Interesting things about
alcohol and other drugs
July 2016
ANDREW BROWN
@ANDREWBROWN365

2. Deaths in custody in England and Wales per
1,000 prisoners
0.0
0.5
1.0
1.5
2.0
Mar
07
Mar
08
Mar
09
Mar
10
Mar
11
Mar
12
Mar
13
Mar
14
Mar
15
Mar
16
12 months ending
Self-inflicted Natural Causes
In the 12 months to March
2016 there were 290 deaths
in prison custody, an
increase of 51 compared to
the same period of 2015.
This is a rate of 3.4 deaths
per 1,000 prisoners, up from
2.8 in the previous 12 month
period
Source: Safety in custody statistics (MoJ)

3. Price per unit of alcohol in Scotland and England
& Wales, by trade sector, 2000-2015
0.00
0.50
1.00
1.50
2.00
2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
Priceperunit(£)
E&W - On-trade Scotland - On-trade E&W - Combined
Scotland - Combined E&W - Off-trade Scotland - Off-trade
Source: MESAS alcohol sales and price update May 2016

4. More than one third (36%) of the volume of alcohol sold
in the off-trade (excluding discount retailers) in England
& Wales in 2015 was at below 45 pence a unit of
alcohol.
0%
2%
4%
6%
8%
10%
12%
14%
16%
18%
20%
Under
30 p
30 -
34
35 -
39
40 -
44
45 -
49
50 -
54
55 -
59
60 -
64
65 -
69
70 -
74
75 -
79
80 -
84
85up
Source: MESAS alcohol sales and price update May 2016
Off licences in England and
Wales sold 265.8 million litres
of pure alcohol in 2015

5. Over half (54%) of strong ciders sold in the off-
trade (excluding discount retailers) in England and
Wales in 2015 were sold at below 20 pence a unit
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
Under
20p
20 - 24 25 - 29 30 - 34 35 - 39 40 - 44 45 - 49 50 - 54 55 - 59 60 - 64
There were 3.6 million litres of pure
alcohol classified as strong ciders
sold in the off-trade (excluding
discount retailers) in England and
Wales in 2015
Source: MESAS alcohol sales and price update May 2016

6. Use of drugs in prison
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
Used in last
month
Once or
twice
Once a
week
2-3 times a
week
Almost daily
Spice Hooch Cannabis Heroin substitutes Heroin “Frequency of use was
high. Almost half of those
who admitted using spice
said they used it daily.
This was the same for
those using heroin
substitutes, but less with
other drugs. Around a
quarter of hooch and
cannabis users took their
drug of choice daily and
four in ten used heroin
daily which represents a
huge change to drug
culture, and therefore to
the services needed by
prisoners.”
Of those using in the last month
Source: Spice: The Bird Killer. What Prisoners Think About The Use Of Spice And Other Legal Highs In Prison

7. Attributing the impact of sexual abuse in
childhood to problems in adult live in
England
11%
7%
10%
15%
17%
0%
2%
4%
6%
8%
10%
12%
14%
16%
18%
Common mental
disorders
Alcohol
dependence
disorders
Drug use
disorders
Eating disorders Post-traumatic
stress disorders
Source: Transforming mental health services for children who have experienced abuse (NSPCC)

8. Number of attendances reported at Injecting
Equipment Provision outlets in Scotland; 2007/08
- 2014/15
242,584
251,349
263,424
234,127
219,384
213,098
226,056
328,329
-
50,000
100,000
150,000
200,000
250,000
300,000
350,000
• In 2014/15, 288 outlets in
Scotland provided injecting
equipment. Three in four of
these outlets were located in
pharmacies.
• Approximately 330,000
attendances were reported by
injecting equipment outlets an
increase of 45% on the previous
year.
• Approximately 4.4 million
needles/syringes were
distributed by participating
outlets.
• Nationally, 71 needles/syringes
were distributed per problem
drug user.
Source: Injecting Equipment Provision in Scotland 2014/15

9. Rates of needles/syringes distributed per injecting
drug user in Scotland
80 79 79 76
66 65 62
71
-
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
2007 - 08 2008 - 09 2009 - 10 2010 - 11 2011 - 12 2012 - 13 2013 - 14 2014 - 15
Source: Injecting Equipment Provision in Scotland 2014/15

10. Global trends in the estimated number of people
with drug dependency conditions
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014
Miliions
Source: World Drug Report, UNDOC (2016)
“According to global estimates,
nearly one in six people with drug
use disorders access treatment
services each year.”
“People who develop
dependence and become
affected by drug use disorders
are those who account for the
vast majority of negative health
consequences among people
who use drugs. UNODC estimates
that, as of 2014, out of a quarter
of a billion past-year drug users,
more than 29 million had a drug
use disorder.”

11. Standardised Years of Life Lost due to Drug Use
Disorders per 100,000 of population
409.4
231.3
0.0
50.0
100.0
150.0
200.0
250.0
300.0
350.0
400.0
450.0
Male Female
Source: Avoidable mortality in England and Wales: 2014 ONS

12. Number of deaths from alcohol related diseases in
England and Wales in 2014 by sex and age group
0
100
200
300
400
500
600
700
800
05-09 10-14 15-19 20-24 25-29 30-34 35-39 40-44 45-49 50-54 55-59 60-64 65-69 70-74
Male Female
Source: Avoidable mortality in England and Wales: 2014 ONS

13. Positive response to question of whether you
know anyone who does this…
6%
12%
19%
38%
38%
0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40%
Drive after taking Class A drugs
Drive after smoking cannabis
Drive when over the legal alcohol
limit
Drive when unsure if over legal
alcohol limit
Drive after drinking two pints
Source: THINK! Road Safety Biennial Survey
Drink Driving
While the vast majority of people agree that
it is dangerous and unacceptable to drive
when over the legal alcohol limit or when
unsure, the level of agreement has fallen in
2015.
Drug Driving
This is a minority behaviour, with very few
respondents saying that they ever drive after
taking Class A drugs or cannabis. Despite
this, there is a significant increase in those
stating that they know someone who ever
drives after using cannabis. This has been
accompanied by significant decreases in the
number of those thinking that these actions
are dangerous and unacceptable, although
the vast majority still agree.