Understanding British addiction statistics

The statistical data issued by the Home Office and Department of Health and Social Security are quite detailed and generally valid measures of hard core addiction in Great Britain (Judson, 1973). Since 1968, the main basis of these high quality British statistics is the routine reports filed by Drug Treatment Centres. The well-trained, experienced staff of these clinics make knowledgeable dicsions about a cleint's addiction, efficiently regulate dosage, and otherwise exert some degree of control over addicts (Judson, 1973; Johnson, 1974). The co-operation of police, courts, prison physicians, and general practitioners is also valuable in collecting data on drug addiction and convictions. Information presented in the tables above indicates that a rising problem of herion addiction between 1962 and 1967 were arrested by the introduction of the treatment clinics in 1968. Further, legally maintained heroin addiction has been reduced by almost one-third since 1968, since many herion addicts have been transferred to injectable methadone. The decline in herion prescribing and the relatively steady number of narcotics addicts has apparently occurred in the face of a continuing, and perhaps increasing, demand for heroin and other opiates. With few exceptions of a minor nature analysis of various tables suggests that the official statistics are internally consistent. There are apparently few "hidden" addicts, since few unknown addicts die of overdoses or are arrested by police (Lewis, 1973), although Blumberg (1974) indicates that some unknown users may exist. In addition, may opitate usersnot officially notified are known by clinic doctors as friends of addicts receiving prescriptions (Judson, 1973; Home Office, 1974). In brief, offical British drug statistics seem to be generally valid and demonstrate that heroin and perhaps methadone addiction has been well contained by the treatment clinics.