More than 1.2 million adults in the UK have been addicted to illegal drugs, according to research carried out by one of the country's leading authorities on the subject.
A survey commissioned by DrugScope, the independent organisation that maps trends in the supply and use of illicit substances, shines new light on the public's attitude to addiction. Its findings come at the end of a week in which official figures revealed sharp increases in cocaine use across the country.
The DrugScope research, published in the latest edition of its Druglink magazine, suggests that while drug addiction is not on the rise, the number of people whose lives are affected by drugs is considerably higher than many imagine.
The ICM poll of more than 1,000 people aged over 18 found that 19% had "personal experience of drug addiction" either directly or among family or friends. About 11% knew a friend who had experience of drug addiction, 6% had a family member who is or was drug dependent, while 2% - representing more than 1.2 million adults nationally - had themselves experienced drug dependency.
"Our research shows that drug dependency is something that's close to home for many people," said Martin Barnes, chief executive of DrugScope, who suggested the figures indicated how drugs were a problem for the whole of society. "Every drug user is someone's daughter or somebody's son," he said. "It may be hard for a lot of people to reconcile the 'junkies' of many a headline with the person they know and love who has struggled with drug dependency."
The DrugScope survey found addiction cuts across all social classes: 18% of those whose lives had been affected by drug addiction were from the higher social class AB, compared with 20% in the lower-middle class C1 and 14% in the skilled working class C2. The figures were much higher among the young, with more than a quarter (27%) of respondents aged between 18 and 34 admitting to personal direct or indirect experience of drug dependence.
DrugScope said it commissioned the poll to question the common perception that addicts are the architects of their own misfortune. Four fifths of those questioned agreed that "people can become addicted to drugs because of other problems in their lives", whereas only 35% agreed that "there is no excuse for drug addiction - it is always the individual's fault".
DrugScope also found overwhelming support for drug treatment: 88% of respondents agreed that "people who have become addicted to drugs need help and support to get their lives back on track", while 77% agreed that investment in drug treatment is "a sensible use of government money".
"It's encouraging that the majority of respondents understood that someone's drug dependence will often stem from other problems in their life and agreed that drug treatment should be available to all those who need it," Barnes said.
Last week's British crime Survey estimated that 974,000 people in England and Wales used cocaine past year. The survey said there are now about 439,000 cocaine users in their late teens and early 20s, up by 1.5% in the last 12 months. Almost 50,000 had used crack cocaine while an estimated 41,000 people were classed as regular users of heroin or methadone.
Barnes argued that a shift in society's attitudes to drug addicts would help improve their chances of rehabilitation.
"For many people trying to break free of addiction, stigma and discrimination remain a major barrier to recovery and may impact on their chances of getting into work, being housed or accessing proper health care. The government's commitment to supporting problem drug users requires action to tackle stigmatising and discriminatory attitudes."
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