National Drug Consumption Survey

December 22, 2010

The Department for National Drug Control [DNDC] in collaboration with the Department of Statistics is disseminating National Drug Consumption Survey, 2009.

This household survey presents national data on the use and abuse of alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs in our society. The household survey was conducted in November 2009 among 1,283 individuals between 16-65 years, with one household member randomly selected to respond to the interview.

  • Alcohol, tobacco (cigarettes), and marijuana are the most commonly used drugs among the adult population in Bermuda.
  • 61.2% of respondents indicated they have friends and family members who get drunk.
  • Almost 2 in 5 respondents said they have friends and family members who take illegal drugs
  • 13.3% (1 in 7) of respondents would try an illegal drug if they were given the chance.
  • Slightly more than half of all respondents (53%) said it would be easy to get access to marijuana
  • 30.2% thought that it would be easy to get access to cocaine.
  • The public viewed smoking cigarettes (13.1%) and marijuana (23.3%) sometimes as no or low risk to the individual.

The findings demonstrate significant gender differences in the prevalence of alcohol, tobacco (cigarettes) and marijuana use. In general, males reported higher prevalence of use rates than women. The observed differences in prevalence of use according to age, was most apparent with the use of marijuana.

Respondents between 20-29 years of age reported higher lifetime, annual, and current use than other age groups. Respondents who were under 20 years old reported current use that was higher than the overall national average (7.5%) while those in the 20-29 age group reported current use that was over two times the overall national average (17.2%). Those respondents under 20 years old also reported current use that was above the overall national average (11.3%).

The survey data also provides insight into the circumstances and perceived harmfulness of using alcohol, tobacco (cigarettes), and other drugs. The DNDC says that “Given that 13.3% of respondents indicated they would try an illegal drug if given the opportunity, the findings of this survey may serve as the basis to refining prevention programs and treatment interventions to better meet the needs of specific sub-groups in this community.”

The DNDC say they “believe that it is possible for Bermuda to contain and subsequently reduce the demand for alcohol and other drugs. However, a total community effort and nothing less is required. Prevention of drug use in Bermuda must focus intensively, but equally on the problem of demand and supply. The cultural forces that encourage and perpetuate drug use in our society must be eliminated. We must recognize that drugs have become a deeply ingrained part of our daily life and that the reduction in demand and supply cannot occur unless social attitudes toward drug use change.”

The Survey can be found on the DNDC website under the Ministry of Justice on the Government Portal: www.gov.bm

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Comments (6)

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  1. Truth be told... says:

    “61.2% of respondents indicated they have friends and family members who get drunk.” So you are telling me that 38.8% of the respondents DO NOT HAVE ANY friends or family members who get drunk, what part of St. Davids are they from???

  2. Terry says:

    Long Bar………………………bwhaaa

  3. US Observer says:

    Truth Be Told…Is there something about this that is not clear? There are still people who do not consume alcohol which apparently is not the norm in Bermuda.

    • Truth be told twice... says:

      Something isn’t clear about this, whilst having 61.2% of respondents indicating they do have friends and family members who get drunk, could be interpreted to mean one person out of all their friends and family gets drunk, or could mean every friend or family member gets drunk or two or three etc. Basically this statistic is skewed because if the amount of friends and family members differs between each ‘respondent’ and some ‘respondents’ could have mutual friends and family members, since Bermuda only has ~65,000 people within 21 sq miles. The resultant of this statistic could simply indicate that roughly only 100 people get drunk in Bermuda, who really knows. But when ~65,000 friends and family members live within 21 sq miles that’s good enough reason to get drunk, and Bermudians like to drink so for almost ~40% of these people not to know a single one is ridiculous, but I guess the got confused because Bermudians don’t get drunk, they get tapped, folded, hot, and juiced!!!!!

  4. Jay says:

    I’ve had a quick read of the full survey report. Interestingly, the report was first published on June 18th 2010 and yet it has taken six months to put this in the public domain. Why? Also, it would be interesting to find out why the report published on gov.bm is shown as ‘DRAFT.’ Is it still the ‘DRAFT’ or is in the final publication? Finally, without getting into the significant detail reported within the Survey Report it would have been more helpful if the Report provided more data and comment on the drug consumption trends over time – as we have undertaken similar surveys before. Surely it’s important for policy makers to learn how consumption and attitude trends are adjusting over time so that programmes remain relevant.

  5. Brasco says:

    This is Hogwash!