Tuesday, July 14th, 2020

Drug Use in the UK: Statistics

We often get asked “what is the level of drug use in the UK really like?”.

Here are some bullet point figures from England & Wales for 2018/19:

• 1 in 11 (9.4%) adults aged 16 to 59 had taken a drug in the last year. This equated to around 3.2 million people
• 1 in 5 (20.3%) adults aged 16 to 24 had taken a drug in the last year, which equates to around 1.3 million people
• 1 in 20 (5.0%) adults aged 16 to 59 had taken a drug in the last month
• 1 in 9 (11.4%) young adults aged 16 to 24 had taken a drug in the last month
• 1 in 3 (34.2%) of adults aged 16 to 59 had taken drugs at some point during their lifetime
• 1 in 25 (3.7%) adults aged 16 to 59 had taken a Class A drug in the last year, which equates to around 1.3 million people
• Among young adults aged 16 to 24, 8.7% had taken a Class A drug in the last year

Alcoholism and drug dependence can lead to lowered productivity within the workplace, with increased levels of absenteeism and sick leave, accidents and injuries, including fatal accidents and even premature deaths.

Substance abuse is linked to 60% of all poor performances and 40% of industrial accidents at work.

83% of employees who have had a hangover at work admit that it affected their productivity, 33% admit to having gone to work with a hangover, and 22% admit to having made mistakes at work because of a hangover.

It has been reported that 65.7% of adult drug users and 75% of illicit drug users (i.e. 17% of the total workforce) are employed.

It has been reported that during lockdown drug & alcohol use has been on the increase.

• How are you managing these issues in your workplace?
• When was the last time you reviewed your policy?
• When did you last do training for managers & supervisors?

Look at thees stagering figures

Why not Contact Us to seehow we can help.

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