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The Guardian - UK

World

Simon Rogers

Which drugs do you take? US and the UK compared by the global drug survey

Which drugs do people take? The Guardian/Mixmag survey is one attempt to explain the facts behind this controversial issue - which sees users claim that more of them use cannabis than energy drinks.

Conducted by Global Drug Survey, we wanted to know which drugs people take, how often and why. The survey of 15,500 people studied a wide range of illict and legal substances, from alcohol and cannabis to cocaine and MDMA - as well as newer drugs such as mephedrone and synthetic cannabis. These are the results.

The answers came from countries around the world, mostly the UK and US. Here are some of the key findings:

• fifth of young drug users admit to taking "mystery white powders" without any idea what they contain - 15% of overall respondents say they have taken a unknown white powder in the last 12 months, a third admitting its was supplied by someone they didn't trust. But younger drug users were much more likely to take risks with unknown substances, with a fifth of all survey respondents aged between 18 and 25 saying they had taken mystery powders
• more respondents in the UK and US admitted to taking cannabis than either tobacco or energy drinks
• Those who defined themselves as clubbers were more likely to take ecstasy than smoke cigarettes
• 3.5% of those in the UK said they had even taken ecstasy, or MDMA, anally
• Alcohol is used regularly by almost all drug users, and apart from tobacco, the substance respondents would most like to take less of. Two-thirds of male respondents and 60% of women drank reported drinking at hazardous or harmful levels - though a fifth of regarded their drinking as average or below average levels

This is how we animated the results:

And this Tableau graphic, created with the help of Ian Taylor at Flying Binary, shows how the use of each drug compares between the UK and the US. Scroll down to find out more about the methodology and the survey itself.

Compare drug use - and drugs - by country

About the survey

Building on the Mixmag drug surveys - which have run since 1999 and last year polled 2,500 clubbers' over drug use - this year's survey collected the drugs experiences of 15,500 drug users worldwide during a four week period between November and December 2011.

Patrick Butler, head of Society, Health and Education at the Guardian, explains how the survey was carried out:

The survey was promoted online by the Guardian and Mixmag and via social media. Half the respondents were from the UK, a further 4,000 from the US and Canada, the remainder from a range of mainly European or English-speaking countries

The sample

• Download the sample details and demographics here (pdf)

• Just over two thirds of the UK respondents were male. Just over 90% of the UK respondents classed themselves as white; just under 5% said they were either black, Asian, Asian British or mixed. Of the UK respondents 82% described themselves as heterosexual; 5% classed themelves as gay, and 8% bisexual
• The bulk of UK respondents were aged between 16 and 50: the mean age was 28. Almost three quarters said they were in work. Some 55% had a degree or higher degree, and of the three quaters who said they were working in employment earned between £10,000 and £40,000. A third were living with their partner.
• Some classed themselves as clubbers - having been clubbing at least once in the last month, others did not. You can read Mixmag's 2012 drug survey - which focuses on clubbers' experiences - here

The survey was designed by Dr Adam Winstock, a consultant addictions psychiatrist in London, and director of Global Drug Survey. It received ethics approval from the joint Institute of Psychiatry and Maudsley trust ethics committee. Global Drug Survey does not receive government funding. You can find out more about the The Global Drug Survey drugsmeter - an internet-based tool (and soon a phone app) - which enables drug users to compare their drug use against that of other people who drink and take drugs here. You can read more about Global Drug Survey's research methods here.

Data summary

Which drug do you take? US and the UK compared
Drug	UK: Last 12 months	UK: Last month	US: last 12 months	US: last month
Alcohol	95.2	92	95.5	86
Tobacco	64.5	57	51.8	43
Tobacco in joints	62.7	49	22.9	14
Cannabis grass	50.9	32.1	61	45.5
Cannabis skunk	49	34.9	42.9	34
Cannabis resin	34.7	16.6	34.9	22
Cannabis any	68.2	53.4	69.3	57.5
Energy drinks	56.6	41.7	60	46
MDMA powder	46.3	26.3	19.4	7
MDMA pills	39.2	19	19.3	8.5
MDMA any	53.7	33.7	26.5	12
Cocaine	41.8	22.3	19.8	8.5
ketamine	24.5	9.3	5.5	2
nitrous	27.2		10	4
Mephedrone	19.5	7.2	2	0.5
Benzodiazepines	18.1	9	19	11
Mushrooms	13.9	4.8	21	6.5
Caffeine tablets	13.4	6.2	9	5.5
Isopropyl nitrate	13.1	5.2	3	1
Amphetamine (speed)	11.8	4.2	10	6
LSD	10.5	3.1	18	5
2CB	7.4	2.2	3	1
Amphetamine (paste)	4.8	1.6	2	1
Viagra	4.7	2.3	3	1.5
Methoxetamine	4.2	2.4	1.5	1
DMT	3.4	1.1	6	2
Synthetic cannabis	3.3	1.5	14	3
Benzo fury	2.4	0.8	<0.5	0.2
MDAI	2.2	0.5	0.5	0.2
Opium	1.9	0.6	4	1
Methylone	1.4	0.4	2.5	1
Crack	1.1	0.6	1	0.2
2CI	3.7	0.8	3.9	1
GBL	1.6	0.5	1	0.5
GHB	1.5.	0.5	<0.5	0.2
GHB/GBL			1.2	0.5
MDPV	0.5	<0.001	0.95	0.2
BZP	1.2	<0.1	0.65	0.2
Heroin	1.1	0.6	2.5	1.5
Ritalin	1.9	<0.5	10	6
Dextromethorphan	1.4	0.2	5.5	2.5
AMT	0.2	0.4	<0.01	-
MDA	1.2	<0.2	3.5	<1
Methamphetamine	0.8	<0.2	2.1	1
Kratom	1.1	<0.2	2.4	1
Solvents	0.4	<0.2	<0.01	-
Steroids	0.5	<0.2	<0.5	0.2
SOURCE: GLOBAL DRUG SURVEY FOR GUARDIAN/MIXMAG