Table DUP-1. Prevalence of lifetime drug use among prisoners, 2000–09

Country	Year	Source/ reference (1)	Definition and methodological comments (2)	Drug used
				(and if any: restriction on base population)	Note	%
Belgium	2008	1	Persons reporting lifetime drug use. Comment: cross-sectional national survey in all the 32 Belgian prisons in a representative sample of 10% of prisoners in each prison, including remanded, sentenced and mentally disordered prisoners, both males and females (n= 1078)	any illicit drug		65
				cannabis		58
				cocaine, crack		43
				heroin		28
				amphetamines		29
				ecstasy		29
Belgium	2006	2	Persons reporting lifetime drug use. Comment: national survey in all the 32 Belgian prisons in a representative sample of 10% of adult prisoners, including remanded, sentenced and mentally disordered prisoners, both males and females (n= 902).	any illicit drug		60
				cannabis		52
				cocaine, crack		39
				heroin		27
				amphetamines		27
				ecstasy		28
				LSD, magic mushrooms		20
	2003	3	Persons reporting having used illicit drugs (prior/within prison). Comment: survey in a random sample of 10 prisons (over a total of 38) among on remand, convicted and social defence (psychiatric cases) prisoners (n= 886).	any illicit drug		51
				cannabis		47
				cocaine		36
				heroin		26
				amphetamines		33
				ecstasy		31
Bulgaria	2009	1	Persons reporting at admission to the prison lifetime drug use prior to imprisonment Comment: national survey in 17 remand prisons among all convicted, defendant adults and detained persons in prison and remand arrest during the year (n= 5776)	Any illicit drug		17
				cannabis		6
				cocaine		3
				heroin		9
				amphetamines		5
				ecstasy		3
	2008	2	Persons reporting at admission to the prison lifetime drug use prior to imprisonment Comment: national survey in 17 remand prisons among all convicted, defendant adults and detained persons in prison and remand arrest during the year (n= 9983)	Any illicit drug		15
				cannabis		3
				cocaine		0.8
				heroin		8
				amphetamines		3
				ecstasy		1
	2007	3	Persons registered (in the judicial and medical files) as lifetime drug users prior to imprisonment (self-report) Comment: national survey in 17 remand prisons among all new cases accused, defendant adults and detained persons in prison and remand arrest during the year (n= 7780)	any illicit drug		10
	2006	4	Persons registered (in the judicial and medical files) as lifetime drug users prior to imprisonment (self-report) Comment: national survey in 17 remand prisons among all accused, defendant adults and detained persons (n= 11400)	any illicit drug		18
				cannabis		3
				cocaine		2
				heroin		10
				amphetamines		3
				ecstasy		2
	2006	4	Persons registered (in the judicial and medical files) as lifetime drug users prior to imprisonment (self-report). Comment: national survey in 6 prisons among prisoners (n= 3733)	Any illicit drug		11
	2006	4	Persons registered (in the judicial and medical files) as lifetime drug users prior to imprisonment (self-report). Comment: national survey in 17 prisons among prisoners (n= 7274)	cannabis		7
				cocaine		1
				heroin		9
				amphetamines		2
				ecstasy		2
	2006	5	Persons registered (in the judicial and medical files) as lifetime drug users prior to imprisonment (self-report). Comment: national survey in 17 prisons among on remand detainees (n= 3567)	Any illicit drug		8
				cannabis		1
				cocaine		0.3
				heroin		5
				amphetamines		0.3
				ecstasy		0.8
	2006	6	Persons reporting lifetime drug use prior/within prison. Comment: national survey in 10 prisons among sentenced detainees (n= 1257)	Any illicit drug		37
				cannabis		31
				cocaine		23
				heroin		23
				amphetamines		19
				ecstasy		18
	2004	7	Persons registered (in the judicial file) as lifetime drug users prior to imprisonment. Comment: national survey based on cases for which drug use prior to imprisonment was mentioned during the collection of data for the judicial file, among all convicted detainees (n= 11521).	any illicit drug		15
				cannabis		4
				cocaine		3
				heroin		4
				amphetamines		2
				ecstasy		2
	2004	7	Persons in contact with health services, psychologists and social workers reporting lifetime drug use prior to imprisonment. Comment: national survey in all prisons in Bulgaria (n= 11521).	any illicit drug	(4)	7
				cannabis	(4)	1
				cocaine	(4)	0.8
				heroin	(4)	3
				amphetamines	(4)	0.5
Greece	2000	1	Persons reporting lifetime drug use prior to imprisonment. Comments: survey in 1 prison amongst on remand and convicted prisoners (n= 136)	any illicit drug		48
Spain	2006	1	Persons reporting lifetime drug use prior to imprisonment Comments: nationwide survey in 66 prisons in a random sample of prisoners (n= 4934) (women overrepresented)	cannabis		65
				cocaine		53
				crack		39
				heroin		39
				heroin + cocaine in the same dose		31
				amphetamines		25
				ecstasy		24
Italy	2003	12	persons reporting lifetime drug use prior to imprisonment (based on self-report). Comment:survey among new admissions in 9 prisons of 8 cities spread across national territory (n= 1267)	any illicit drug		56
				cannabis		33
				cocaine		42
				heroin		34
				amphetamines		5
				ecstasy		7
				hallucinogens		6
Latvia	2003	1	Persons reporting lifetime drug use prior to imprisonment. Comment: national survey in 11 (out of 15) prisons with at least 100 convicted Persons (n= 2867).	any illicit drug		53
				cannabis		51
				cocaine		15
				heroin		21
				amphetamines		22
				ecstasy		17
Lithiania	2003	2	Persons reporting lifetime use of a narcotic drug. Comment: survey in all penal institutions among those who returned the questionnaire including men (1122), women (67) and minor boys (115) (n= 1304).	any illicit drug		49
Hungary	2009	1	Persons reporting lifetime drug use prior to imprisonment. Comment: cross-sectional survey in 1 prison in Budapest amongst a simple random sample of adult convicted males; population 1 400 (n= 194)	any illicit drug		58
				cannabis		46
				cocaine		22
				heroin		18
				amphetamines		45
				ecstasy		40
	2008	2	Persons reporting lifetime drug use prior to imprisonment. Comment: national cross-sectional survey in 22 prisons amongst a proportional random sample of adult both males and females convicted prisoners of Hungarian citizenship (n= 503)	any illicit drug		44
				cannabis		38
				cocaine		19
				heroin		8
				amphetamines		22
				ecstasy		23
	2004	3	Persons reporting lifetime drug use prior to imprisonment. Comment: national survey in 11 prisons amongst a proportional random sample of adult male convicted prisoners of Hungarian citizenship (n= 609)	any illicit drug (adult males)		31.5
				cannabis (adult males)		26
				cocaine (adult males)		11
				heroin (adult males)		7
				amphetamines (adult males)		16
				ecstasy (adult males)		16
	2004	3	Persons reporting lifetime drug use (both prior to and in prison). Comment: national survey in 11 prisons amongst a proportional random sample of adult male convicted prisoners of Hungarian citizenship (n= 609)	any illicit drug (adult males)		34
				cannabis (adult males)		27
				cocaine (adult males)		11
				heroin (adult males)		8
				amphetamines (adult males)		16
				ecstasy (adult males)		17
The Netherlands	2003	1	Men reporting lifetime drug use prior to imprisonment. Comment: survey in 8 prisons among male detainees (n= 355).	any illicit drug (males)		79
	2002-03	2	Youth reporting lifetime drug use prior to imprisonment. Comment: survey in 8 youth detention centres in 3 regions among a representative sample (n= 205) (random sample of 135 boys and over-sample of 70 girls) of 14-17 year-olds on remand and convicted.	cannabis (youth)		78
				cocaine (youth)		11
				heroin/opiates (youth)		4
				amphetamines (youth)		8
				ecstasy (youth)		18
				hallucinogenic mushrooms (youth)		13
				crack (youth)		2
				LSD (youth)		3
Poland	2007	1	Adult men reporting lifetime drug use prior to imprisonment. Comment: nationwide survey (41 prisons) in a random sample of on remand and convicted prisoners (n= 1240).	any illicit drug (adult males)		49
				cannabis (adult males)		43
				cocaine (adult males)		21
				heroin (adult males)		8
				amphetamines (adult males)		39
				ecstasy (adult males)		29
	2001	2	Adult men reporting lifetime drug use prior to imprisonment. Comment: nationwide survey (38 prisons) in a random sample of on remand and convicted prisoners (n= 1189).	cannabis (adult males)		39
				cocaine (adult males)		19
				heroin (adult males)		10
				amphetamines (adult males)		36
				ecstasy (adult males)		20
Portugal	2007	1	Persons reporting lifetime drug use prior to imprisonment. Comment: nationwide survey (44 prisons) in a random sample of on remand and convicted prisoners (n= 1986).	any illicit drug		55
				cannabis		48
				cocaine		35
				heroin		30
				amphetamines		15
				ecstasy		18
	2007	1	Persons reporting lifetime drug use (both prior to and in prison). Comment: nationwide survey (44 prisons) in a random sample of on remand and convicted prisoners (n= 1986).	any illicit drug		59
				cannabis		55
				cocaine		40
				heroin		34
				amphetamines		16
				ecstasy		20
	2001	2	Persons reporting lifetime drug use prior to imprisonment. Comment: nationwide survey (47 prisons) in a random sample of on remand and convicted prisoners (n= 2057).	any illicit drug		61
				cannabis		54
				cocaine		44
				heroin		44
				amphetamines		18
				ecstasy		16
Slovenia	2008	1	Persons classified as lifetime drug users Comment: routine monitoring in all prisons and correctional centre amongst on remand, convicted detention prisoners (juvenile included) (n= 4383) admitted into prison during the year. Expert estimations	any illicit drug		28
Romania	2006	1	Persons reporting lifetime drug use prior to imprisonment Comment: survey in 27 prisons among prisoners (n=3218)	any illicit drug		16
				cannabis		15
				cocaine		6
				heroin		8
				amphetamines		1
				ecstasy		4
				LSD		1
Finland	2001	2	Persons reporting having used illicit drugs. Comment: national survey among a sample of voluntary HIV tested convicted prisoners (n= 825).	any illicit drug		58
				opiates		5
				amphetamines		29
United Kingdom (England)	2001	2	Women reporting lifetime drug use. Comment: national survey of female prisoners on remand and convicted in 10 prisons (n= 301). (from Borrill et al., 2003a)	any illicit drug (females)		80
				cannabis (females)		77
				cocaine (females)		36
				crack (females)		50
				heroin (females)		49
				amphetamines (females)		48
				ecstasy (females)		40
				LSD (females)		35
				tranquilizers (females)		48
United Kingdom (England and Wales)	2005-06	3	Persons reporting lifetime drug use. Comment: survey in 49 prisons holding newly sentenced receptions among all adults sentenced between 1 month and 4 years (n= 1457).	any of heroin, crack, cocaine, amphetamines, cannabis		79
				cannabis		70
				cocaine		43
				crack		41
				heroin		37
				amphetamines		37
Croatia	2009	1	persons reporting lifetime drug use prior to imprisonment Comment: survey among attendees to the department for diagnostics and programming, who had been convicted and still have more than six months of servitude, regardless on his/hers gender and age (n= 1916)	any illicit drug		26
				cannabis		19
				cocaine		12
				heroin		12
				amphetamines		10
				ecstasy		10
	2008	2	persons reporting lifetime drug use prior to imprisonment Comment: survey among attendees to the department for diagnostics and programming, who had been convicted and still have more than six months of servitude, regardless on his/hers gender and age (n= 1791)	any illicit drug		24
				cannabis		22
				cocaine		13
				heroin		13
				amphetamines		11
				ecstasy		11
Norway	2002	2	Persons reporting lifetime drug use prior to imprisonment. Comment: national survey in all 52 prisons among on remand and convicted prisoners (n= 1074).	any illicit drug		70
				cannabis		65
				cocaine		51
				heroin		37
				amphetamines		59
				ecstasy		45

Notes:

 n.a.: not available. 

 (2) Caution should be applied when considering that a survey is said to be 'national', as this refers to its intended geographical coverage, but does not mean it is necessarily representative of the national situation, which would depend on any sampling procedures adopted. Note that the size of the prison population surveyed is not available for most of the studies displayed in this table, and sample sizes reflect different proportions of the population in different countries. 

 (4) Bulgaria: due the fear of sanction, it is likely that drug use is under-reported. 

Sources:

 (1) For access to sources and bibliographic references, refer to Table DUP-0.  

• Download this data in Excel (.xls) format

(see the help page for information about formats etc.)