AS many as one in 50 young people and adults in three of Britain's major cities is an injecting drug-user, according to research.

A new study focusing on London, Liverpool, and Brighton estimated that between one in 50 and one in 80 people aged 15 to 44 injected drugs on a regular basis.

The researchers said this made the problem as common as diabetes and more common than chronic diseases, like epilepsy.

According to the study in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, injecting drug-users were more likely to die from their habit in Brighton.

Overdose

Overall, around one per cent of injecting drug-users die from an overdose each year.

But in Brighton, not only were there higher rates of drug users, but two per cent died of an overdose.

Researchers, from Imperial College London and Liverpool John Moores University, gathered their information from sources including drug treatment centres, referrals after police arrest and syringe exchange schemes for the year 2000/01.

The team estimated that rates of injecting drug use among people aged 15 to 44 were two per cent in Brighton, 1.5 per cent in Liverpool and 1.2 per cent in London.

They said that routine statistics on problem drug use did not accurately reflect the actual prevalence in the population.

Tweet