Geographical Aspects of Scoring Illegal Drugs

Young drug users (n=210) were asked where they would go to obtain eleven categories of illicit drug. From this information it was possible to draw up spatial availability networks for each drug. There was little difference in drug use between persons resident in relatively more or less deprived areas. However, people tended to gravitate from the less towards the more deprived areas in order to obtain drugs. There was also a tendency for subjects to travel less far in order to obtain cheaper drugs. These findings imply that perceived drug problems in deprived areas may become exaggerated by outsiders and therefore inaccurately reflect prevalence of drug use locally.