5 interesting things that were reported to the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA) by the UK Focal Point in 2014. Including - rates of high risk drug takers in the population, the drugs that people entering the drug treatment systems for first time report as of primary concern, changes in the purity of particular drugs, the typical street price of drugs based on information from the police, and an estimate of the size of the cannabis market in the UK

1. 5 things we
learnt from
the 2014 UK
Focal Point
report
Andrew Brown
Director of Policy, Influence and Engagement
DrugScope
@andrewbrown365

2. Nearly 1 in 100
(0.9) people
between ages of
15 - 64 in Great
Britain is
thought to be a
high risk drug
user
8.4
17.15
9.08
ENGLAND SCOTLAND WALES
Definition of a high risk drug use:
“injecting drug use or long-duration/regular use of opioids, cocaine and/or amphetamines”

3. The percentage of first drug treatment
presentations by primary drug in the United
Kingdom, 2003/04 to 2013
5.1 4.1 3.9 4.3 4.4 3.8 3.3 3.6 3.3 2.8
2.3 3.1 2.5 1.9 2.9 2.5 3 3.1 3.9 3.8
18.6 22.1 24.8 24 27.2 28 32.5 32.4
37.1
48.6
5.8
7.7
9.1 10.5
13.3 15.1
12.4 11.4
12.9
14.6
6
6.6
6.7
6.1
6.3 6.7 4.6 4.6
4
2.4
57.8 52.3
50
45.7
42.5 41 40.4 40
33.4
19.7
4.6
3.9 3.3 3.1 3.5 3.1 3.8 4.9 5.4 8.1
3.5 8 6.6 4.2 3.4 3 4.3 5.4 5.6 2
2003/04 2004/05 2005/06 2006/07 2007/08 2008/09 2009/10 2010/ 11 2011/12 2013
Amphetamines Benzodiazepines Cannabis
Cocaine* Crack Opioids
Other Not known
*includes cocaine powder and cocaine unspecified
NB – “Both the increase in
proportion of cannabis
presentations and the
decrease in opioid
presentations in 2013
could be exaggerated by
the introduction of the
new Treatment Demand
Indicator protocol.”

4. Domestic resale mean percentage purity of
certain drugs seized by police in England and
Wales, 2003 to 2013
11 9 10 11 11
8 8 8 10
5 7
51
42 43
35 33
29
20
24 26
37 38
70
64 65
50 52
43
27
31
26
30
36
65 67 66
48
52
33
44
49
71
102
33
40
47
44
50
43 44
35
18 20
33
2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013
Amphetamines Cocaine powder Crack cocaine Ecstasy* Heroin (brown)
*mg of MDMA base per tablet Source: http://www.nta.nhs.uk/uploads/uk-focal-point-report-2014.pdf

5. Law enforcement agencies: Typical price of
street level illicit drugs in the United
Kingdom in 2013
Price per gram unless
otherwise stated
Amphetamines £10.00
Cannabis herb £3.00
Cannabis resin £3.00
Cannabis (sinsemilla) £8.50
Cocaine powder £40.00
Crack cocaine £60.00
Ecstasy (per tablet) £3.00
Heroin £50.00
LSD (per dose) £3.00
Mephedrone £15.00
Ketamine £20.00
“Prices are collected from police
services across the UK on a rolling
basis by the NCA [National Crime
Agency] and also during the
course of NCA business. These
originate from an array of sources
such as detainee debriefing, test
purchase deployments, general
intelligence, evidence from arrests
and searches, expert witness
interpretation of criminal ledgers
and communications, informants,
social surveys and internet
forum/website research. Prices
are not formally recorded in the
UK on an individual receipt basis
but are qualitatively assessed as
being ‘current and representative’.
The prices shown are the most
common (mode) prices and
should not be interpreted as
means.”Source: http://www.nta.nhs.uk/uploads/uk-focal-point-report-2014.pdf

6. The cannabis market in the UK
• 175 tonnes of ‘skunk’ = c. £1,487,500,000
• 95 tonnes of herbal/resin = c. £285,000,000
• Total cannabis market = c. £1,772,500,000
NB – This estimate
is higher than the
recent £1.22 bn
calculated by the
Office for National
Statistics.
Source:
http://www.ons.gov.uk/on
s/rel/naa1-rd/national-
accounts-articles/impact-
of-esa95-changes-on-
current-price-gdp-
estimates/art---impact-of-
esa95-changes-on-current-
price-gdp.html#tab-
Individual-Impacts-of-Non-
ESA-2010-Changes
“Despite substantial domestic cannabis plant cultivation in the UK,
demand continues for cannabis resin (hashish) and is most
commonly supplied from production in Afghanistan and Morocco.
Herbal cannabis (the non-flowering type) continues to be supplied
from South Africa and the Caribbean, while high quality
“branded” types of plant cannabis (known as “skunk”) continue to
be imported from the Netherlands… There is no evidence to
suggest the UK exports cannabis in commercial quantities.”