Crime Reduction - Helping to Reduce Crime in Your Area

Home Office Research Study 228

This Home Office report presents an analysis of data from the 1998/99 Youth Lifestyles Survey (YLS) which included a representative sample of almost 5,000 young people aged between 12 and 30 years of age. It focuses on levels of drug use by vulnerable young people such as serious and persistent offenders, rough sleepers, serial runaways, truants and those excluded from school. All of these groups were found to have high rates of drug use. The report also considers access to drugs, and the patterns of drug-related behaviour and offending in comparison with other young people of the same age.

The data contained within this report is an important addition to the main measures of drug use obtained from the British Crime Survey (BCS) and the national Schools Survey. Several other projects have also been commissioned in support of the Government’s anti-drugs strategy.

To link to the full report click here. PDF  (188 KB)