Netherlands National Drug Monitor - Research and Documentation ...

Table 4.2 Ever use of heroin among pupils of special and mainstreams schools by age group
School type 12-13 years 14-15 years 16 years
Special education
REC-4 I 3.2% 3.6% 4.8%
Pro II 1.0% 1.5% 0.8%
Lwoo III 0.6% 1.4% 4.7%
Mainstream education 0.4% 1.1% 1.0%
Percentage of ever use. Survey year for special education is 2008. Survey year for mainstream education is
2007. I. REC = Regional Expertise Centre. II. Pro = practical education. III. Lwoo = learning support education.
Sources: Trimbos Institute; Trimbos Institute/University of Utrecht.
Special groups
In some risk groups, there is a higher rate of heroin use, but this does not apply to all
risk groups.
• In certain circles, a small minority experiments with heroin (Table 4.3). Among frequenters
of fashionable clubs in Amsterdam, the percentage of ever users was 2% in 2003,
dropping to one percent in 2008. Current heroin use is rare in the social scene
• In 2008/2009 substance use was surveyed among frequenters of eleven national and
regionally organised parties and festivals (Trimbos Institute/ Utrecht University, 2010).
The survey found that over one percent of the party-goers had ever tried heroin, and
only 0.1% were current users of the drug.
• The same survey studied substance use among frequenters of clubs and discos in
medium sized and large municipalities in five regions of the Netherlands: the Northern
region (Friesland, Groningen, Drenthe), the Eastern region (Gelderland and Overijssel),
the central region (Utrecht, Flevoland), the Western region (Noord- and Zuid-Holland)
and the Southern region (Noord- Brabant, Zeeland, Limburg). The percentage of ever
users of heroin varied from 1.5% in the Western region to 0.3% in the central region;
and the percentage of current heroin users ranged from 0.2% in the Western region
to