This statistical report presents a range of information on drug use by adults and children drawn together from a variety of sources. It focuses on England only where possible although some statistics are only readily available at GB or UK level or for England and Wales combined. Some of this is new information whilst some has been published previously. More detail can be found in the source publications which contain a wider range of data and analysis.

Contains a set of data tables for each part of the Smoking, Drinking and Drug Use among Young People in England, 2021 report

Data from the Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW) on the extent and trends of illicit drug use.

In 2024/25, there were around 203,950 drug offences in England and Wales, compared with 182,370 in the previous year. For the period between 2002/03 and the most recent reporting year, drug offences in England and Wales peaked in 2008/09, when there were approximately 243,540 offences. Since the peak in 2008/09, the number of drug offences has declined, with 2017/18 having the fewest number of offences in this provided time period. Cannabis involved in highest number of seizures In 2023/24, the police and border forces in England and Wales made 152,660 seizures of cannabis, the most of any drug. By comparison, the next-most common drug, Cocaine, was seized by the police just 21,548 times. While the current government has no plans to legalize cannabis, approximately 28 percent of UK citizens surveyed in 2025 thought that the drug should be legal, with a further 27 percent supporting its decriminalization. Recent surveys also indicate that almost one in three people in England and Wales had used Cannabis at some point in their lives, despite it being illegal. Regional drug crime When broken down by individual police force areas, Merseyside Police, who cover the city of Liverpool, had the highest drug crime rate in England and Wales, at 8.6 offences per 1,000 population. For the whole of England and Wales, the drug crime rate per 1,000 people was 3.4, and was lowest in Dorset, where it was just 1.5. In terms of drug seizures, Cleveland was the police force area with the highest drug seizure rate in England and Wales in 2023/24 at 7,053 seizures per million people. By contrast, the Thames Valley Police only had 242 seizures per million people in the same year.

This report contains results from the latest survey of secondary school pupils in England in years 7 to 11 (mostly aged 11 to 15), focusing on smoking, drinking and drug use. It covers a range of topics including prevalence, habits, attitudes, and wellbeing. This survey is usually run every two years, however, due to the impact that the Covid pandemic had on school opening and attendance, it was not possible to run the survey as initially planned in 2020; instead it was delivered in the 2021 school year. In 2021 additional questions were also included relating to the impact of Covid. They covered how pupil's took part in school learning in the last school year (September 2020 to July 2021), and how often pupil's met other people outside of school and home. Results of analysis covering these questions have been presented within parts of the report and associated data tables. It includes this summary report showing key findings, excel tables with more detailed outcomes, technical appendices and a data quality statement. An anonymised record level file of the underlying data on which users can carry out their own analysis will be made available via the UK Data Service later in 2022 (see link below).

Annual number of deaths registered related to drug poisoning, by local authority, England and Wales.

The number of deaths related to drug misuse in England and Wales has increased in the observed period. While for men, it amounted to 2,635 deaths, there were a total of 1,101 female deaths due to drug misuse in 2024.

This annual publication presents the latest available information from a range of national data sources relevant to drug misuse. Source agency: ISD Scotland (part of NHS National Services Scotland) Designation: National Statistics Language: English Alternative title: Drugs Misuse Statistics Scotland

Annual number of deaths related to drug poisoning in England and Wales. Data are given by cause of death, sex, age, substances involved, and country and region.

Smoking, Drinking and Drugs Use among Young People in England is an annual survey carried out in participating schools across England to provide information on pupils' smoking, drinking and drug use behaviours. The survey focuses on different behaviours in different years, alternating between smoking and drinking one year, to drug use the next. Source agency: Health and Social Care Information Centre Designation: National Statistics Language: English Alternative title: Smoking, drinking and drug use among young people in England

Drug use statistics for adults and young people from the Crime Survey for England and Wales. Source agency: Home Office Designation: National Statistics Language: English Alternative title: Drug misuse declared

This statistic displays the number of drug users entering specialized drug treatment services in the United Kingdom (UK) in 2019, by drug. The highest numbers were registered for opioid users entering treatment, with approximately **** thousand total entrants although only *** thousand of those were first-time entrants to drug treatment. Of those entering treatment as a result of cannabis use, approximately **** thousand were first time entrants to treatment.

In 2023/24 there were approximately 58,275 arrests for drug offences in England and Wales, compared with 60,705 in the previous year.

Drug misuse, symptoms of common mental disorder and personal well-being in adults who reported being a victim of crime in the last year; data from the Telephone-operated Crime Survey for England and Wales (TCSEW), year ending March 2021.

This statistic displays the proportion of school children who had taken drugs in the last month in England as of 2023, by age and gender. In this year, 10 percent of girls and 11 percent of girls aged 15 years old admitted taking drugs in the last month. Furthermore, twp percent of girls and one percent of boys aged 12 years had taken drugs in the month prior to being surveyed.

The number of deaths from drug misuse in England and Wales has increased over the period under consideration, amounting to 3,618 in 2023. This statistic displays the number of deaths related to drug misuse in England and Wales from 1993 to 2023.

Drug related hospital and psychiatric discharge statistics. Normally published as part of Drug Misuse Statistics Scotland publication, due to issues with data submissions being published separately. Source agency: ISD Scotland (part of NHS National Services Scotland) Designation: National Statistics Language: English Alternative title: Drug Statistics