Drug addiction increase

Press, 29 August 1984, Page 40

Drug addiction increase

NZPA-AP London Drug addiction in Britain rose at a record pace in 1983, with the typical addict aged 26, most victims hooked on heroin and more than a quarter of them young women, according to a Home Office report. Drug welfare agencies and social workers reported a total of 5864 addicts in 1983,1750 more than in 1982 and more than double the 2441 recorded in 1980.

The Home Office report said that the official figures represented about one-fifth of the real number of ad-

dicts in the country. The rise in the addiction rate is also reflected in the growing amount of drugs seized by the police, the report said. The police made 26,216 seizures of controlled drugs, including heroin, cocaine, and marijuana in 1983, 21 per cent more than in 1982. In 1973, there were 1406 addicts in the record books, a figure that rose steadily by about 200 each year until 1980.

In 1981, the number of registered addicts jumped by 870, and by 807 in 1982.

The 1983 figure, 42 per ceni higher than in 1982, represented the sharpest jump in the last decade the report said.

Of the 5864 addicts in 1983, 4186 of them are described as new addicts and 1678 former addicts and 60 per cent or 3559 of them were hooked on heroin and more than a fifth of them were under age 21. About 30 per cent of the new addicts were women, as well as almost a quarter of the former addicts. Women accounted for about 28 per cent of the total.