New Psychoactive substances (NPS): results of a questionnaire on the definition of NPS, proposals to establish a forensic centre for excellence, and improving data collection and information sharing

2. Consultation responses and respondents

2.1 Number of responses received

A total of 54 responses were received to the questionnaire: 24 from individuals and 30 from organisations. This included enforcement, health, academic and third sector stakeholders amongst others (Table 1). A full list of these organisations is provided in Annex A.

Table 1: Questionnaire responses by group

2.2 How the responses were received

Fifty responses were submitted via the Scottish Government's online Citizen Space platform for consultations. Four were returned by email and subsequently uploaded to Citizen Space for analysis.

2.3 Analysis and reporting

The questionnaire included 12 closed questions^[4], and 20 open 'free text' questions.

Results from the closed questions are presented as frequencies in Figures 1 to 12. Responses to each of the open questions were coded, in order to generate themes. These themes are described under each of the relevant questions. Where appropriate, verbatim quotes are included to illustrate points made. Only quotes provided by those who gave permission for their responses to be made public have been used in the report.

When reviewing these results it is important to note that respondents were participating voluntarily, and were not randomly sampled. This means that the analysis presented is representative only of the organisations and individuals who responded, rather than being representative of a wider population.