Random mandatory drug testing (traditional drugs)

The percentage of random mandatory drug tests which show drugs to be present, hence a downward trend is positive. This measure excludes tests for new psychoactive substances.

The values for 2018/19 onwards are calculated using a new weighted methodology - please refer to the HMPPS Annual Digest 2018 to 2019 for more details.

Due to an insufficient number of prisons meeting the required testing level, the data is currently not sufficient to robustly estimate the prevalence of drug use in prisons. Any changes in the monthly percentage positive levels could be driven by certain prisons reaching their required levels rather than underlying levels of drug use. Since we do not have a robust estimate, there are no tables accompanying this chapter of the HMPPS Digest.

The data source is for the summary is HM prison and probation service annual digest, and the data source is for the details below is prison performance ratings (annual).

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