ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the practical aspects of determining the nature and extent of drug misuse at a local level, giving examples from urban and rural areas. With 15 health board areas in Scotland, sample sizes in individual health boards are of limited utility in determining the scale of local drug use. The survey of young people gave some idea of prevalence: there were indications of increasing experimentation with drugs towards the younger end of the age spectrum. Overall, the needs assessment approach provides a general overview of known drug misuse, which for many purposes may be sufficient. Each city provided a representative sample of approximately 1 000 people from the general population along with a ‘booster’ sample of 250 young people thought to be most at risk from drug misuse. By the inclusion of demographic and lifestyle questions, major advantage of surveys lies in their ability to provide information about the characteristics and lifestyle factors associated with drug misuse.
