Chapter 4 Those Offered Drugs
4.1 As well as examining the types of drugs used and the characteristics of drug users, the survey also asked respondents whether they had ever been offered drugs. The results, split by age and sex, are displayed in Figure 4-1.
Figure 4-1: Whether offered any drug in last year by age and sex
Source: 2004 Scottish Crime and Victimisation Survey
Bases: 16-19 unweighted n, men=70 women=64
20-24 unweighted n, men=89 women=106
25-29 unweighted n, men=132 women=156
30-34 unweighted n, men=137 women=222
35-39 unweighted n, men=190 women=265
40-59 unweighted n, men=723 women=801
4.2 Overall, 12 per cent of respondents had been offered drugs in the last year. More men than women were offered drugs (15 per cent compared with 9 per cent).
4.3 The proportion of respondents who had been offered drugs in the last year decreased with age: 28 per cent of respondents aged between 16 and 29 had been offered drugs as opposed to 5 per cent of those aged 30 or over.
Types of drugs offered by age
4.4 Respondents were asked which specific types of drugs they had been offered in the last year. The results are shown in Figure A-1 in Annex A.
4.5 Overall, the highest proportion of individuals offered any type of drug was in the 16-24 year old age group. This pattern was present for all drugs. For example, 26 per cent of respondents aged 16-24 were offered cannabis as opposed to 6 per cent of older respondents, and 17 per cent were offered ecstasy as opposed to 3 per cent of older respondents.
4.6 The 3 most commonly offered drugs to each age group are shown in Table 4-1. Cannabis was the drug offered to the greatest proportion of individuals in each age group. Although amphetamines were still being offered (especially to those aged between 30-34 years old), they were not as commonly offered as ecstasy and cocaine.
Table 4-1: Three most commonly offered drugs by age (% respondents)
| 16-19 | 20-24 | 25-29 | 30-34 | 35-39 | 40-59 |
|---|
1 st | Cannabis
(29) | Cannabis
(25) | Cannabis
(20) | Cannabis
(10) | Cannabis
(4) | Cannabis
(2) |
2 nd | Ecstasy
(16) | Ecstasy
(17) | Ecstasy
(9) | Ecstasy
(5) | Ecstasy
(1) | Cocaine
(0.9) |
3 rd | Amphetamines
(14) | Cocaine
(12) | Cocaine
(7) | Amphetamines
(5) | Cocaine /Amphetamines
(1) | Ecstasy
(0.8) |
Source: 2004 Scottish Crime and Victimisation Survey
Bases: 16-19 unweighted n=134
20-24 unweighted n=195
25-29 unweighted n=288
30-34 unweighted n=359
35-39 unweighted n=455
40-59 unweighted n=1524
Types of drug offered by sex
4.7 As well as examining differences in specific types of drugs offered relative to age, the research also examined whether there were differences in the types of drugs offered to men and women. The results are displayed in Tables A-5 and A-6 of Annex A.
4.8 The results did not reveal many differences by sex. Both men and women in the younger age groups were more likely to be offered every type of drug, and in most cases, roughly twice as many men as women were offered each type of drug.