Alcohol and Other Drugs
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Alcohol and other drugs Statistical information Reykjavik 2003 The Alcohol and Drug Abuse Prevention Council – Statistical information © The Alcohol and Drug Abuse Prevention Council 2003 Copyright law prohibits the reproduction, storage, or transmission in any form, by any means of any portion of this publication without the express written permission of the author. Voucher: Thorgerdur Ragnarsdóttir, Director of the Alcohol and Drug Abuse Prevention Council. Convulsion and photos: Thórunn Steindórsdóttir Digital printing: Offset ehf. Bookbinding: Offset ehf. / Bókbandsstofa ES The Alcohol and Drug Abuse Prevention Council Barónstígur 47, 101 Reykjavík Telephone: 585 1470 Fax: 585 1313 E-mail: [email protected] website: www.vimuvarnir.is Contents Statistical information CONTENTS Introduction...................................................................................................................... 1-2 Alcohol sales.................................................................................................................. 3-11 Treatment organizations................................................................................................ 12-37 Substance use-related deaths......................................................................................... 38-46 Drug offences................................................................................................................ 47-52 Alcohol act violations................................................................................................... 53-56 Drunken driving............................................................................................................ 57-61 Accidents and deaths due to drunken driving............................................................... 62-67 Sexual violence............................................................................................................. 68-71 Research................................................................................................................... 72-81 Table index................................................................................................................... 82-90 References................................................................................................................. 91-92 The Alcohol and Drug Abuse Prevention Council 2003 3 AlcoholIntroduction Sales Statistical informationStatistics AINLTCROOHDOULCSTAIOLNES Alcohol sales and their fluctuations are commonly used as a gauge of the total consumption ofThe alcohol. report "AlcoholAmong those and Otherdoing Intoxicants:so is the World Various Health Statistics", Organization which (WHO).came out Alcohol first in salesMay also2002, provide is now beingan indication published of revised the relationship an improved. between It contains changes diverse in total information consumption giving and an alcoholidea of alcoholabuse, andwhich drug entails use in various Iceland harmfulas well aseffects. the harmfulness The Statistical caused Bureau by such of use Iceland from recordsvarious theperspectives. annual sales Collection of alcohol. of the information on which the report is based fulfils one of the Figurestatutorily 1.1 definedand Table tasks 1.1 of show the Alcoholthe sales and trend Drug of taxableAbuse Preventionalcohol in IcelandCouncil, over which the is last to 30collect years. data These on drugs; figures thus reflect the councilneither thealways alcohol has theimported most recentthrough and the tenable duty-free information store at theon Keflavikthe status Airportof these nor matters. homemade or smuggled alcohol. The reference age is 15 and over since this First,standard the hasreport become contains customary information in comparisons from Statistics between Iceland countries. on alcohol Alcohol sales atsales the Stategrew steadilyAlcohol untiland Tobacco1989 when Monopoly. they took Figures a temporary from Statisticsjump following Iceland legalisationon the turnover of the of sale taxed of beeralcohol in Iceland.are usually Sales used then as decreaseda criterion again of total in thealcohol wake consumption of decreasing in purchasing the country. power, Inquiries but sincewere 1993made theyin municipalities, have increased which substantially, by law reachingissue liquor a peak licences, in 2001 for of information 6,32 litres ofon pure the spiritsnumber per of capitaliquor licencesof those inaged Iceland. 15 and over. There are several possible explanations for this increase,Second, including the report increased contains access information to alcohol, on improvedalcohol and economic drug offences circumstances, obtained influencefrom the fromNational abroad, Commissioner changed lifestyle, of the Icelandic an increase Police, in the which, number along of withtourists, information hard-sell aboutmarketing, other advertisingoffence categories, and other is discussion. found in the organisation's annual financial reports. The Reykjavik Police Chief also publishes an annual report with statistical information on the status of Figure 1.1. Alcohol sales 1970-2002 measured in litres of pure matters within the precinct.spirits per person, aged 15 and older. Third, there is information on sentences for alcohol and drug offences, obtained from the 7.00 State Prison Administration, which maintains information on sentences for violations of the 6.00 s it penalir code. p 5.00 s reFourth,4.00 the report contains information on the activities of rehabilitation facilities in u p additionf 3.00 to statistical information about the groups availing themselves of their services. o s re itThere2.00 is also information in the report related to alcohol use from the Iceland Traffic L Council1.00 and the Iceland Road Accident Analysis Group. The0.00 number of reported rapes where the use of alcohol and drugs is believed to be 1980 1982 1984 1986 1988 1990 1992 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 involved is also worth mentioning; sexual offences are often related to the use of alcohol or otherSource: intoxicants. Statistical Bureau of Iceland Notes: The sale of beer stronger than 2.5% began on 1 March 1989. As of 1 December 1995, the State Alcohol and Tobacco Monopoly’s (ÁTVR) exclusive right to import alcohol and sell it to resellersIt proved was difficultabolished, toand obtain importers, sufficient producers information and wholesalers on having accidents a special related permit towere the authorised use of to sell it to resellers. Since 1995, figures therefore include the sales of ÁTVR and other permit holders. Not alcoholincluded isand/or the alcohol drugs, that but tourists data orfrom the crewsthe Pathological of ships and aeroplanesResearch bringLaboratory with them are into relied the country. on. The Alcohol and Drug Abuse Prevention Council 2003 1 Introduction Statistics The statistical data on which the report is based make it possible to evaluate the harmfulness to society of the use of alcohol and other intoxicants. The collection and the extent of this kind of information depend entirely on how well the relevant organisations and companies maintain information on their activities. Although it is possible to find sources in many places, the information is limited. The report therefore gives only an idea of the impact and harmfulness caused by alcohol and drugs, while the total extent is still hidden. The Alcohol and Drug Abuse Prevention Council also organises, with others, various studies on the lifestyle and consumption of various age and social groups. The report also contains an excerpt from these studies. Such studies provide another kind of information about the dissemination and consequences of alcohol and drug abuse. They elucidate the ideas of the respondents and give an idea of their views on lifestyle, consumption, preventive measures, standard of living and other aspects of daily life. In recent years there has also been increasing emphasis on preventive projects that are evaluated with respect to their results for the purpose of improving preventive efforts made in Iceland. Under the auspices of the Alcohol and Drug Abuse Prevention Council there are continuing efforts to collect information that could be of use in counteracting the threat stemming from the growing use of drugs in Iceland. At The European Monitoring Center on Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA) in Lisbon, and at the European office of the World Health Organization in Copenhagen, there is increasing emphasis on coordinated recording and collection of data in the field of alcohol and drug abuse prevention efforts. The purpose is to make statistical information more comparable between countries. The guideline is that such information could help to make efforts to bolster health and prevention beneficial in the future. Thorgerdur Ragnarsdóttir Director of the Alcohol and Drug Abuse Prevention Council Thórunn Steindórsdóttir Sociologist 2 The Alcohol and Drug Abuse Prevention Council 2003 Alcohol Sales Statistical information ALCOHOL SALES Alcohol sales and their fluctuations are commonly used as a gauge of the total consumption of alcohol. Among those doing so is the World Health Organization (WHO). Alcohol sales also provide an indication of the relationship between changes in total consumption and alcohol abuse, which entails various harmful effects. The Statistical Bureau of Iceland records the annual sales of alcohol. Figure 1.1 and Table 1.1 show the sales trend of taxable alcohol in Iceland over the last 30 years. These figures reflect neither the alcohol imported through the