This indicates that the upward trend in drug misuse has not yet peaked. Use of heroin, crack cocaine and methadone remains rare, with fewer than 1 respondent in 100 reporting ever having used each of these substances. However, for various reasons, a survey of this kind may not be the most appropriate means of determining how widespread use of these drugs actually is, Gender differences indicate that while women may have a similar propensity to experiment with drugs, they are less likely to continue using drugs on a regular basis. To summarise, drug misuse shows no sign of decreasing in Scotland. In tact, analysis of the two sweeps of the SCS suggests that it has increased between 1993 and 1996.
Women appear to be less inclined to continue drug use after initial experimentation.
Introduction Despite widespread concern about drug misuse in recent years, relatively little is still known about the precise scale and nature of the problem. By its very nature, drug misuse tends to be difficult to quantify. By asking a representative sample of the population directly about their use of drugs, sample surveys can provide an important complement to existing indicators. Moreover, by repeating such surveys at regular intervals, it is possible to build up a picture of changes in patterns and levels of drug misuse over time. In this way, the 1993 SOS was able to provide the first nationally-representative estimates of levels of drug misuse in Scotland.