Uk Drug Use Statistics In The Uk
Research carried out over the last three years suggests that:
- During 2018/19, 9.4% of adults surveyed, between the ages of 16 to 59 had taken an illicit drug ²
- In 2018/19, 20.3% of young adults, within the ages range of 16 to 24, had taken an illicit drug ²
- In 2018/19, there were 7,376 hospital admissions recorded for drug related mental and behavioural disorders ²
- A higher frequency of visits to pubs and nightclubs in 2018/19 was linked to a higher occurrence of drug use ³
- In 2018/19, 9.8% of people living in urban areas were more likely to have taken any drug than 7.7% of those living in rural areas ³
- People with lower levels of happiness were more likely to have taken drugs than those with higher levels of happiness ³
Million Adults Over The Age Of 26 Suffered From A Substance Use Disorder In 2017
That makes up 6.4% of the age group. In addition, 5% of those aged 26 and over suffered from an alcohol use disorder. That translates to 10.6 million adults, according to addiction facts. Also, 2% of adults, or approximately 4.3 million, had an illicit drug use disorder.
Note that men of all ages are more likely to abuse drugs than women. However, women are just as prone to addiction when they start abusing drugs.
Otc Withdrawal Symptoms Can Happen
Even recreational OTC drug addiction can lead to withdrawal symptoms. When people misuse and abuse these substances in the mid to long term, it can rewire the brains chemistry. Eventually, people develop a physical dependence, which then leads to withdrawal symptoms when they quit. Common OTC withdrawal symptoms include confusion, irritability and agitation, anxiety, and even mood changes.
You May Like: How Does Nicotine Become Addictive
As Per Data From 2017 51 Million People Aged 18 To 25 Suffered From A Substance Use Disorder
That means that one in seven people, or 14.8% of this age group, suffered from a substance use disorder. Drug statistics also show that approximately 10% of all young adults, or 3.4 million, suffered from an alcohol use disorder. Around 2.5 million, or 7.3% of all young adults, suffered from an illicit drug use disorder. Unfortunately, heroin use has also increased in the last 20 years in this age group.
How Do Drugs Work In The Brain To Produce Pleasure
Nearly all addictive drugs directly or indirectly target the brains reward system by flooding the circuit with dopamine. Dopamine is a neurotransmitter present in regions of the brain that regulate movement, emotion, cognition, motivation, and reinforcement of rewarding behaviors. When activated at normal levels, this system rewards our natural behaviors. Overstimulating the system with drugs, however, produces effects which strongly reinforce the behavior of drug use, teaching the person to repeat it.
Don’t Miss: How To Help Someone With Heroin Addiction
A Gray Zone Of Prescription Drug Use
It’s possible to have a valid medical prescription, follow your doctor’s advice, and still be a prescription drug abuser.
- Some addicts occupy a gray zone of prescription drug abuse, and the reason for this is pretty simple: not all medical conditions manifest in a blood test or x-ray.
- Therefore, it is fairly easy to present symptoms or complaints to ones doctor.
Mental health conditions such as anxiety and insomnia, some chronic pain conditions, and a handful of other ailments are diagnosed based on symptoms. Some people lie about their symptoms to gain access to prescription drugs.
Others self-diagnose to get drugs.
- For instance, a man who wants to stay up all night studying might tell his doctor he has symptoms of ADHD to get Ritalin.
- Alternatively, a woman who struggles with the normal concentration challenges we all periodically face might misdiagnose herself with ADHD.
- If her doctor does not carefully screen her for symptoms, she might end up with a potentially addictive prescription drug that she does not actually need.
- Her history of taking ADHD medications will then serve as evidence to future doctors that she needs these drugs!
- Doctors must be able to trust their patients, and requiring a patient to prove that he or she has a problem means that many who need medications might have to go without them. So while this strategy is unfair and needlessly burdensome, doctors must take proactive measures to ensure their patients take the right drugsand nothing more.
Rates Of Illicit Drug Abuse In The Us
The National Survey on Drug Use and Health , a yearly interview of 67,500 persons sponsored by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, provides the most accurate estimates of drug, alcohol, and tobacco use in the general U.S. population.
According to the 2018 NSDUH findings, illicit drug use rates have increased, particularly due to a recent trend in increasing marijuana use and an increase in the abuse of prescription-type psychotherapeutic drugs.
In 2018, NSDUH respondents reported which drugs, if any, they had used in the 30 days prior to the interview. Based on those findings, the government estimates that:
- 31.9 million people aged 12 or older in the United States are “current users” of some kind of illicit drug.
- Just over 50% of respondents had used illegal drugs or done nonmedical use of prescription drugs in their lifetime.
You May Like: How To Stop Oxycodone Addiction
Reasons For Increased Drug Use
There is no single cause for the increasing rates of drug usage in the United States. People have varying reasons for why they turn to drug use, as well as when and why they decide to seek treatment. The most likely demographics to use drugs include teenagers, young adults, Baby Boomers, and overall men more than women. But there are some factors that may influence people, in general, to experiment with or use drugs. Some of the factors include:
Statistics On Prescription Drug Misuse And Addiction
Overview of prescription drug abuse rates:
- More than one million people misused prescription stimulants, 1.5 million misused tranquilizers, and 271,000 reported misusing prescription sedatives in 2017.
- In 2017, an estimated 18 million Americans aged 12 and older reporting misusing prescription drugs in the last year.
Sedative/tranquilizer abuse rates:
- About 681,000 people had a prescription sedative or tranquilizer use disorder in 2019.
Prescription stimulant abuse rates:
- More than 550,000 people were dependent on or addicted to prescription stimulant drugs.
Amphetamine misuse rates:
- The misuse of prescription drugs like Adderall is highest among young adults, who will misuse these drugs to improve focus, boost energy, and suppress appetite.
Also Check: How To Smoke Without Getting Addicted
Statistics On Specific Population Demographics And Addiction
Adolescents :
- In 2017, approximately 4% of the American adolescent population age 12 to 17 suffered from a substance use disorder this equals 992,000 teens or 1 in 25 people in this age group.1
- About 443,000 adolescents age 12 to 17 had an alcohol use disorder in 2017, or 1.8% of adolescents.1
- An estimated 741,000 adolescents suffered from an illicit drug use disorder in 2017, or about 3% of this population.1
Young adults aged 18-25:
- About 5.1 million young adults age 18 to 25 battled a substance use disorder in 2017, which equates to 14.8% of this population and about 1 in 7 people.1
- About 3.4 million young adults age 18 to 25 had an alcohol use disorder in 2017, or about 10% of young adults.1
- About 2.5 million young adults had an illicit drug use disorder in 2017, or about 7.3% of this population.1
- Heroin use among young adults between 18 and 25 years old doubled in the past decade.4
Over age 26:
- Approximately 13.6 million adults age 26 or older struggled with a substance use disorder in 2017, or 6.4% of this age group.1
- About 10.6 million adults age 26 and older had an alcohol use disorder in 2017, or about 5% of this age group.1
- About 4.3 million adults age 26 or older had an illicit drug use disorder in 2017, or 2% of this age group.1
Elderly individuals:
Men vs. women:
Ethnicity/race:
Criminal justice/employment status:
What Happens To The Brain When A Person Takes Drugs
Most drugs affect the brain’s “reward circuit,” causing euphoria as well as flooding it with the chemical messenger dopamine. A properly functioning reward system motivates a person to repeat behaviors needed to thrive, such as eating and spending time with loved ones. Surges of dopamine in the reward circuit cause the reinforcement of pleasurable but unhealthy behaviors like taking drugs, leading people to repeat the behavior again and again.
As a person continues to use drugs, the brain adapts by reducing the ability of cells in the reward circuit to respond to it. This reduces the high that the person feels compared to the high they felt when first taking the drugan effect known as tolerance. They might take more of the drug to try and achieve the same high. These brain adaptations often lead to the person becoming less and less able to derive pleasure from other things they once enjoyed, like food, sex, or social activities.
Long-term use also causes changes in other brain chemical systems and circuits as well, affecting functions that include:
- learning
- memory
- behavior
Despite being aware of these harmful outcomes, many people who use drugs continue to take them, which is the nature of addiction.
Read Also: How To Stop Sugar Addiction
The Prevalence Of Sud Is 10% Among Native Americans As Substance Use Disorder Statistics Find
Native Americans are more likely to report drug abuse in the past month or year than any other ethnic group. Furthermore, around 4% of Native Americans have an illicit drug use disorder. Moreover, the percentage of Native Americans who have an alcohol use disorder is 7.1%, and almost 25% report binge drinking in the past month.
Signs Of Prescription Drug Addiction
If you or a loved one uses prescription painkillers or other habit-forming medications, knowing the signs of abuse can help prevent addiction. Some of these include:
- Becoming preoccupied with getting and using the drug
- Needing a supply of the drug on hand at all times
- Needing more of the drug to produce the same level of pain relief or symptom control11
- Engaging in dangerous activities, like driving, while under the influence of the drug11
- Participating in illegal behaviors, such as stealing, to get more of the drug
- Changes in physical appearance, especially in the area of personal hygiene11
- Doctor shopping to get new prescriptions for the drug11
- Stealing drugs from relatives or friends or asking to use someone elses prescription11
If you notice any of these symptoms in a loved one, or you think you might be developing a drug dependence, its time to do something about it.
You May Like: How Rehabilitation Helps Drug Addicts
How Do You Identify Effective Treatment
The New York Times writes that state and federal governments spend in excess of $15 billion on substance abuse services. The Times goes on to confirm that its difficult to measure the effectiveness of these services.
Only a small number of programs have any kind of data that definitively state their effectiveness. The kind of facilities mentioned by the Washington Post do not usually allow outside researchers to conduct studies or analyze patient completion, follow-up stats, or relapse rates. Since facilities are privately owned , there is no standard guideline to evaluate success each center has its own philosophy, so much so that the chief executive of a nonprofit organization tells the Times that the model of addiction treatment in America resembles a washing machine. The system doesnt work well, he says, for this often chronic, recurring problem.
This is one reason its important for individuals to choose rehab centers that have a measure of official accreditation. The Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities, known as CARF, is a nonprofit organization that offers accreditation of rehabilitation and behavioral health centers. In order to receive a CARF accreditation, facilities must meet a variety of requirements. A CARF-accredited facility must demonstrate the use of high-quality programs and that treatment is tailored to each individual.
Drug Addiction Statistics In The Uk
In 2018, 4,359 people died from drug poisoning in the UK.¹ Of these deaths, 2,917 were from drug misuse, which was an increase of 17% from the previous year.
Using the latest public surveys conducted by the NHS, Public Health England and the UK Government, Manor Clinic has compiled the key statistics on drug use and misuse in the UK.
You May Like: How To Fight Video Game Addiction
How Many People Are Affected
Federal researchers at the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration release annual figures on the number of Americans dealing with some form of drug-related substance use disorder. In 2016, the total number affected was roughly 7,400,000 people over the age of 11. The substance-by-substance breakdown was:
Heroin Roughly 626,000 Americans suffer from heroin addiction/abuse. More than two-thirds of those affected are over the age of 25. People between the ages of 18 and 25 make up nearly all the remaining affected population .
Opioid Painkillers Misuse of opioid painkillers is much more widespread that heroin use. Currently, roughly 1.8 million Americans have diagnosable painkiller problems. Well over a million of those affected are at least 26 years old. Much smaller numbers of 18- to 25-year-olds and preteens and younger teens share the same issues.
Nearly four million Americans have addiction/abuse problems related to the use of marijuana. Roughly 584,000 of those affected were preteens and teenagers between the ages of 12 and 17. Another 1.7 million of those affected were young adults between the ages of 18 and 25. addiction/abuse also affected 1.7 million Americans over the age of 25.
Ethnic And Cultural Diversity Among Substance Abusers
The disease of addiction is distributed differently among different ethnic groups within the United States. Environmental, personal, educational, and community standards among people of different cultures can be contributing factors as to whether or not its members will use drugs.
- 7% of African-Americans, who comprising 13% of the population, have recently used drugs.
- 11% of Native Americans, at 0.7% of the total population, have recently used drugs.
- 6.5% of Caucasians, who comprise 40.5% of the population, recently used drugs.
It appears that those who identify as a sexual minority essentially, anyone who doesnt label themselves a heterosexual suffer a higher risk of developing substance abuse disorders. 39% of the population that identified as a sexual minority abuses drugs a much higher percentage than that of any ethnic minority. Of these sexual minorities one in every three men and nearly one in every five women are recent drug abusers.
Also Check: What Makes You An Addict
Understanding Drug Use And Addiction Drugfacts
Many people don’t understand why or how other people become addicted to drugs. They may mistakenly think that those who use drugs lack moral principles or willpower and that they could stop their drug use simply by choosing to. In reality, drug addiction is a complex disease, and quitting usually takes more than good intentions or a strong will. Drugs change the brain in ways that make quitting hard, even for those who want to. Fortunately, researchers know more than ever about how drugs affect the brain and have found treatments that can help people recover from drug addiction and lead productive lives.
What Are The Treatments For Drug Addiction
Treatments for drug addiction include counseling, medicines, or both. Research shows that combining medicines with counseling gives most people the best chance of success.
The counseling may be individual, family, and/or group therapy. It can help you:
- Understand why you got addicted
- See how drugs changed your behavior
- Learn how to deal with your problems so you won’t go back to using drugs
- Learn to avoid places, people, and situations where you might be tempted to use drugs
Medicines can help with the symptoms of withdrawal. For addiction to certain drugs, there are also medicines that can help you re-establish normal brain function and decrease your cravings.
If you have a mental disorder along with an addiction, it is known as a dual diagnosis. It is important to treat both problems. This will increase your chance of success.
If you have a severe addiction, you may need hospital-based or residential treatment. Residential treatment programs combine housing and treatment services.
You May Like: What Is Holistic Addiction Treatment
Many Otc Drugs Have Addictive Ingredients
While these drugs are safe when used as directed, they contain active ingredients that can be addictive. For example, most cough medicines contain dextromethorphan. When kids take more than the suggested amount, they can experience a high that could lead to intoxication. High doses of any medication, even natural remedies, can be toxic.
Dimenhydrinate, the active ingredient for motion sickness drugs, also causes a high when people exceed the dose amount. Finally, pseudoephedrine available in cough medications causes intense euphoric feelings, and people even use it to make methamphetamines.
Statistics On Methamphetamine Addiction And Abuse
Methamphetamine, which is commonly called Meth, is a controlled substance which has a high potential for abuse, overdose, and addiction. As an illegal drug, Meth is usually sold as Crystal to be burned and smoked. Meth is highly addictive and dangerous for a persons health.
- About 774,000 Americans are regular Meth users. About 16,000 of them are between the ages of 12 and 17.
- The DEA obtained over 117,000 pounds of Meth in 2019.
- About 964,000 Americans are addicted to Meth.
- Meth tested by the DEA had an average of 97.2% purity in the first half of 2019.
- Just over 1% of 8th graders had tried Meth as of 2020.
- Meth overdose fatalities increased almost threefold from 2015 to 2019.
Also Check: How To Conquer Sugar Addiction
