Scots urged to take part in world’s biggest drugs survey

Scotland has been encouraged to take part in the Global Drugs Survey, along with 17 other countries.

The online questionnaire, which was launched at the end of 2013 aims to identify the ways in which drugs are really used, ranging from caffeine and cannabis to cocaine. Researchers have included questions relating to so-called legal highs, the negative effects of certain drugs and the cautions that people take before trying a drug for the first time.

Consultant psychiatrist and addiction specialist behind the survey, Dr Adam Winstock, said Global Drug Survey would be sued to gain real time information on the use of drugs from a majority.
He argued that information gathered from Governments was reliant on national household surveys and statistics from GPs and A&E departments.

Dr Winstock urges those living in Scotland to complete the survey in order to break away from the stereotype of the biggest drinkers and the high ‘rates of recklessness’. He described the survey as an opportunity for Scotland to be judged on hard data rather than media stereotypes.

It is hoped the survey will also provide information which can help shape the way services deal with legal highs in Scotland. This suggestion comes after a total of 47 people were found dead in Scotland in 2012 after taking a substance designed to mimic illegal drugs.

It is not fully understood why people are taking legal highs and misusing prescription drugs in Scotland and Dr Winstock believes that the survey
may offer some insight.

Jeremy Adderley, Enterprise Manager for Scottish drugs charity Crew, also supported the Global Drugs Survey: “Gathering evidence is invaluable for making decisions about the relative harms of substance use and helps organisations like ours tailor our approach to keeping harm to a minimum”,

Scotland were again the topic of conversation in the news this week, after charity Alcohol Focus Scotland called for action to be taken on the knock-on effects of alcohol abuse on others.

This follows a study by the charity highlighting how alcohol impacts on those around the drinker, including family, friends and work colleagues.
Dr Evelyn Gillian, Chief Executive of Alcohol Focus Scotland, said: “One in two Scots are affected in some way by other people’s drinking. Many of these problems are not being reported, either because they are simply tolerated or because they are going on behind closed doors.”

It is hoped that the study by Alcohol Focus will emphasise that the second hand effects of alcohol consumption are just as important as the problems faced by the individual drinker.

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