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Publication, Part of

Smoking, Drinking and Drug Use among Young People in England, 2021

National statistics

Publication Date:
6 Sep 2022
Geographic Coverage:
England
Geographical Granularity:
Regions, Country, Government Office Regions
Date Range:
01 Sep 2021 to 28 Feb 2022
National Statistics

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Part 8: Drug use prevalence and consumption

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Part 9: Young people who have taken drugs

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Part 10: Young people and drugs: the context

Correction to sources of information on drug use data (part 10)

Following the initial publication it was discovered that around half of pupil responses to the question on 'Sources of helpful information about drug use' had been excluded from the results. This was corrected and the affected tables and commentary have been re-issued. 

In Part 10: Young people and drugs: the context, the affected outputs were tables 10.19, 10.20 and 10.21, and the associated chart and commentary in the section on 'Sources of helpful information about drug use'. Though some of the quoted figures changed by 0-3 percentage points, there was no effect to the order of contribution of the most common sources.

4 November 2022 00:00 AM

Page contents

Part 9: Young people who have taken drugs

Introduction

This part focuses further on the behaviour of pupils who have taken drugs at least once.

Topics covered include

  • from whom pupils get drugs;
  • where pupils were when they got drugs;
  • with whom they took them, and
  • ease of obtaining drugs.

Some of the analysis is only based on pupils who said they had taken drugs on more than one occasion. Pupils who had not taken a drug within the last year are excluded as they were not asked on how many occasions they had taken drugs.

From whom pupils got drugs

From whom pupils got drugs on the first occasion, by type of drug (grouped)

On the first occasion they tried drugs, 49% said they had got the drugs from a friend, most of these being from a friend of the same age. 61% of pupils who only took cannabis on the first occasion, got it from a friend.

Overall 16% said they got drugs from a dealer, but this was 29% where a class A drug was taken. 

Overall 6% said they got drugs from a shop, with these mostly involving volatile substances.

Only selected responses for whom the pupil got drugs are shown in the chart below (see table 9.1 for the full list of responses).

From whom pupils got drugs on the most recent occasion

Analyses in this section are based on pupils who have taken drugs on more than one occasion.

As with the first occasion, drugs taken on the most recent occasion were most commonly obtained from friends; 51% from any friend, including 34% from friends of their own age.  

26% of pupils said they got drugs from a dealer.

Where pupils get drugs

Where pupils got drugs on the most recent occasion

Analysis is based on pupils who have taken drugs on more than one occasion.

45% of pupils said they were outdoors (in a street, park or other outdoor area) when they last obtained drugs, by far the most common type of location.

5% of pupils obtained drugs whilst at school, a decrease from 12% in 2018. Conversely, there was a rise in pupils obtaining drugs at home, 15% compared to 8% in 2018.

With whom pupils take drugs

With whom pupils took drugs on the most recent occasion

Analysis is based on pupils who have taken drugs on more than one occasion.

72% of pupils said they were with a friend(s) when they last took drugs.

19% said they took drugs alone on the most recent occasion, up from 11% in 2018, and 7% in 2016.

Perceived ease of getting illegal drugs

Perceived ease of getting illegal drugs, by age

Analysis is based on all pupils. 'Easy’ category included pupils who perceived it ‘very easy’ or ‘fairly easy’ to get drugs; ‘Difficult’ category includes pupils who perceived it ‘very difficult’ or ‘fairly difficult’ to get drugs.

26% of pupils perceived it to be easy to get illegal drugs, down from 31% in 2018.

The proportion who thought it would be easy to get drugs increased with age; 48% of 15 year olds thought it would be easy to get illegal drugs, compared with 5% of 11 year olds.

 

Last edited: 4 October 2023 2:20 pm

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Part 8: Drug use prevalence and consumption

Next Chapter

Part 10: Young people and drugs: the context