| dc.description.abstract | Epidemiology
Drug use among young people
Two surveys in 2006, both conducted in the same manner, one among the 15-20 age group, and one among young adults aged 21-30 showed major differences both in terms of both lifetime prevalence and use during the past six months of all types of drugs. The levels for 21-30 year-olds are more than twice as high as for 15-20 year olds, both in Norway as a whole and in Oslo. And while lifetime prevalence has increased strongly among young adults during the period 1998-2006, the opposite has happened among young people under the age of 20.
For cannabis, it can be concluded that experimentation is most frequent from the late teenage years and into the twenties. Here, prevalence is still on the increase, while new recruitment among the very youngest appears to be declining. As regards recent use of cannabis, these surveys cannot substantiate that there has been a definite increase among young adults. The data display a high degree of stability. The decrease in “use during the past six months” among 15-20 year-olds is more striking, a decrease that has been fairly pronounced since the turn of the millennium.
For other drugs, it is more problematic to identify clear trends, since so few people report use and random factors can go in both directions. Among young people under the age of 20, lifetime prevalence for amphetamine, cocaine and ecstasy, the three most reported drugs, appears to have declined during the period 1998-2006. Among young adults, the opposite trend is even clearer. In an eight-year perspective, lifetime prevalence for all the three drugs has increased considerably; for amphetamine it has doubled and for cocaine it has increased even more. But the prevalence for use during the past six months has not increased, with the exception of cocaine, which has seen a doubling during the last four years. The biggest increase in the use of cocaine is among men in Oslo.
Drug-related infectious diseases
The number of HIV cases among injecting users remains low. In 2006, only 7 new cases (3 % of the total number of HIV cases) concerned injecting users. The proportion that has developed AIDS is somewhat higher (13 %), but the number remains low and stable. The hepatitis B outbreak continued, and 74 of a total of 149 cases of acute hepatitis B in 2006 were among injecting drug users. During the period 1995-2006, the total number of reported cases of acute hepatitis B among injecting drug users was 1 812. Hepatitis C is not monitored to the same extent as hepatitis A and B, and the number of new cases of drug users being infected with the hepatitis C virus in Norway is therefore still not known.
Drug-related deaths
There are two bodies that register drug deaths, Statistics Norway and the National Crime Investigation Service - Kripos. Both series of figures peak in 2001 and decline thereafter. According to the statistics from Kripos, 195 persons died as a result of drug use in 2006, 11 more than in 2005. Oslo had most: 72 deaths (2005:78). The 2006 figures from Statistics Norway are not yet available. The statistics from Kripos also show that 72 per cent of the deceased in 2006 were under the age of 40, while just over 20 per cent were under the age of 25. The percentage of drug-related deaths
among the youngest group (15-25 years) has remained relatively stable, although disturbingly high, since the turn of the millennium.
Drug Markets
In 2006, the highest number of cases and seizures for four years was registered. The number of seizures of cannabis and cocaine is the highest ever. A record amount of amphetamine was seized in 2006. For methamphetamine, the trend is still moving steeply upwards. The number of seizures has almost tripled since 2001. Methamphetamine also accounts for the biggest change in terms of positive findings for illegal substances in road traffic cases, from slightly less than 10 per cent positive in 2003 of the total number of cases | |
| dc.description.abstract | Blant unge voksne har andelen som har brukt narkotika noen gang økt til dels sterkt de siste åtte årene, mens det motsatte har skjedd blant ungdom under 20 år. Både i bruk noen gang og mer nylig bruk av alle typer narkotiske stoffer er nivåene for 21-30 åringer mer enn dobbelt så høye som blant 15-20 åringer, både på landsbasis og i Oslo.
Dette viser to spørreundersøkelser som SIRUS gjennomførte på samme måte i 2006, den ene blant 15-20 åringer og den andre blant unge voksne fra 21 til 30 år. Blant ungdom under 20 år har bruk noen gang av amfetamin, kokain og ecstasy vært stabil eller gått ned i perioden 1998-2006. Blant unge voksne er den motsatte trenden enda mer tydelig. I et åtteårsperspektiv har bruk noen gang økt til dels betydelig for alle tre stoffene – for amfetamin har det vært en fordobling og for kokain en tredobling. Bruk siste seks måneder har derimot ikke økt, med unntak for kokain, hvor det har vært en fordobling de siste fire årene. Den største økningen i bruken av kokain skjer blant unge menn i Oslo.
Få hiv-tilfeller
Rapporten om den norske narkotikasituasjonen viser ellers at antall hiv-tilfeller blant sprøytemisbrukere holder seg stabilt lavt, og det påvises lite nysmitte i gruppen. I 2006 ble det rapportert kun syv nye tilfeller i denne gruppen. Statistikken fra Kripos viser at 195 personer døde som følge av narkotikabruk i 2006, 11 flere enn i 2005.
Beslag
I 2006 ble det registrert 21 343 narkotikasaker og 26 264 narkotikabeslag i Norge. Dette var det høyeste antall saker og beslag på fire år. Antall beslag av cannabis og kokain var de høyeste noensinne. I følge EU's narkotikabyrå er Norge ett av de tyngste nedslagsområdene for metamfetamin i Europa, målt både i beslaglagte mengder og i antall beslag. | |
