Head of the Community Development and Equality Unit in Liverpool City Council

and a member of the Liverpool Drug Reference Group

In my contribution, I want to describe something of the drug misuse problem in Liverpool, England. I will also indicate how this is often linked with other aspects of criminal or anti-social behaviour. Finally, I shall mention some examples of the kind of work and initiatives which needs to be taken to tackle the problem both in the short and longer term.

I want to mention particularly some aspects that affect Local Communities.

The rate of known drug mis-users for every 100 000 of the population in the Northwest of England is greater than for any other Health Region in the country and is approximately twice the national average. During 1995, Liverpool reported the fourth highest number of new agency episodes in the Northwest (that is, the number of people presenting to drug services for the first time or after a break in contact of six months or more). The number of new agency episodes in Liverpool in 1995 was 946 — just over 70% being heroin users and 18% methadone. The next highest were cocaine (5%) and amphetamines (2%). Whilst only 42 users reported cocaine as their main drug of use, a total of 205 (24%) said they used cocaine as part of their drug use. 33% reported currently injecting, with 15% stating that they shared equipment.

The trends in the frequency of drug mis-users injecting drugs and in contact with services in Liverpool over the 1991-1995 period show a significant decrease in people injecting drugs (from 305 — 44% in 1991 to 266 or 33% in 1995). A survey on drinking, smoking and the use of illicit drugs amongst 15 and 16 year olds shows that 40% of girls and 43.5% of boys reported ever using illicit drugs. However the gender balance is reversed in the 25-59 year age group with over two thirds of drug mis-users being male and one third female. By far the most predominant age group for drug misusers is between 20 and 34 years. And 96% are reported to be unemployed. Finally when talking about or describing the extent of drug misuse, it is crucial to stress that these figures only relate to reported drug misusers and we must remember that there is a whole other world of unreported drug misuse which some estimates suggest is at least double, and in some cases even higher, than the known extent of the problem.

The number of drug related incidents dealt with by Merseyside Police between the period January 1994 and December 1996 averaged approximately 3000 p.a., with roughly 3500 prisoners taken and 3600 seizures of drugs p.a.. Most drug seizures in 1996 (total 3763) involved cannabis resin 2000, cannabis herbal 449, amphetamines 357 and heroin 300, with ecstasy the next largest at 173 having risen very substantially since 1994 (114 seizures).

Most drug incidents dealt with by the Merseyside Police in 1996 (3109) involved arrests for possession (2561) with trafficking (453) the next most significant offence.

Of those arrested for trafficking, men outnumbered females 6:1, with the 21-25 and over 30 years age groups featuring most significantly amongst both men and women. The same picture was also true of those arrested for possession of illegal drugs. The most common means of discovery of illicit drugs was by police stopping and searching people in the street (about 50% of total incidents, whilst vehicle checks accounted for about 20%).

Liverpool City Council recently commissioned a study into the problems caused by street prostitution in the city. This study looked at a number of different dimensions of the problems caused by kerb crawling and street prostitution. Where prostitution is concentrated in an identifiable residential area, this creates a number of different problems:

The study undertaken in Liverpool identified a very close link between drug misuse and prostitution whereby two thirds of the women were found to be drug dependent and their involvement in prostitution was in part directly influenced by this. For example the working women’s drug dependency required from around 30 per day to as high in one instance as 820 per week! to feed their habit. Their drug dependency therefore had a consequential effect on their involvement in prostitution, but some of these women would make no financial gain from their involvement in prostitution. A further and particularly worrying dimension of this situation was the fact that women were often more willing to have unprotected sex in order to earn more despite the known dangers associated with such behaviour.

There is a close relationship between the location and extent of drug misuse and a range of criminal activity (burglary and theft from vehicles etc.). Some estimates suggest that as much as 80% of house burglaryand thefts from cars are linked to the desperate need for money to buy drugs. The theft from cars of radios, stereos or other potential valuables left on display and subsequently sold for perhaps 10-20% of their cost in some market, public house or similar outlet, places a very great burden on those areas where it occurs:

Official statistics indicate that the number of recorded crimes in Britain has increased 10 fold over the past 40 year period and that such recorded crime is probably only a third of all that which takes place:

In Britain ecstasy is a Class A drug like heroin and cannabis. Since 1991 ecstasy began to grow in its popularity. It is now estimated that of the 1 000 000 young people who go clubbing each week, about half take ecstasy. Customs seize between 3-4 000 000 million ecstasy tablets a year, which is estimated to be about 10% of the total supply. Ecstasy is a cheap drug. Many of those taking ecstasy are in the 14-16 years age group and view the drug as being safer than alcohol. Dance clubs provide a focus to buy and to consume ecstasy. Many people areaware of the dangers of taking drugs including ecstasy, but there is a fear that its use may have raised the level of acceptability of other drugs. In Britain the media has highlighted a few deaths from ecstasy and related complications but the subtle effects of the drug could be more serious and longer term.

The combination of the effects of ecstasy and the demands of the dance culture neatly combine — the need for energy to sustain hours of dancing is seemingly supplied by ecstasy tablets so we have a continuum through from fashion, music, dance and drugs. 10 years ago the dance industry hardly existed. Now it is a major part of the entertainment industry but also has strong links with drug misuse, and where ownership and/or control of clubs is combined with drug misuse, then a particularly serious cocktail of heavy crime is created. The series of shootings in Liverpool in 1995 resulted from a battle for supremacy between rival gangs of drug dealers who were fighting for control of drug markets including major dance scenes in the city. The link between the dance culture, drug misuse (eg. ecstasy) and alcohol can be illustrated by the fact that pub sales of alcohol have fallen by 20% over the ten years since 1987 — the decade which has seen the rise in the popularity of dance at clubs. People drink water or soft drinks when taking ecstasy to satisfy the increased need for liquid intake.

Some suggest that the brewery industry has developed alcopops to try to make good their loss of sales from normal alcoholic drink. alcopops are being marketed in such a way as to look more like soft drinks and yet their alcohol content is as high or higher than beer. The ease with which they can be confused with soft drink leads to their being drunk in volume and occasionally even by very young children. There is growing concern in Britain today that the evidence of increasing under age drinking of alcohol and the scale of alcohol related harm is at least 10 times greater than that of drug misuse. There were 200 new alcopops or alcohol-laced soft drinks launched in the last year — 63% of people wrongly think that alcopops are weaker than larger.

The most recent concern has been directed at «totpacks». These are sachets containing 30 ml of neat spirits up to 40% proof. They will sell for under 1 and although the producers say they are aimed at elderly people, hikers, anglers and campers who would find it inconvenient to carry a glass in order to have a drink there is serious concern that their price, portability and the ease with which they can be concealed will make them attractive to young people. This latest product to enter the drinks market in Britain adds to the already serious concern at the amount, variety and nature of alcoholic drinks that are now available, much of which seems to be marketed at and certainly consumed by young people including those under the legal age. One fear is that after years of effort to restrict alcohol consumption within football grounds for example, these new products will be impossible to detect.

So what kind of steps need to be taken to combat this increasing dependence upon and attractiveness of illicit drugs of all kinds? It is clearly not possible in this very short contribution to attempt to give a comprehensive list of suggestions. The suggestions I want to make are based on the assumption that other action will be taken:

A few pointers to some key important initiatives or ways of working can be identified;