Publication date: Monday 6 March 2000. Price: £8.50 - Updated 'Trends' report planned 2005.
DID YOUNG PEOPLE'S EXPERIMENTATION WITH ILLEGAL DRUGS PEAK IN THE MID-1990s?
This is the fourth publication in a series that began in 1994. (See also Young People in 2000 - Young People in 2001 - Young People and Illegal Drugs in 1998) The pages below summarise the principal facts.
The main findings are that:
- The percentage of young people that have tried an illegal drug at least once rose steadily since our surveys began in 1987, peaked in 1995-96, and have stabilised, or possibly even come down, since then.
- 39% of 14-15 year olds know where to OBTAIN an illegal drug.
- 58% of 14-15 year olds are fairly sure or certain that they know a DRUG USER.
- 44% of 14-15 year olds have been OFFERED an illegal drug at some time.
- 21% of 14-15 year olds have TRIED an illegal drug at some time.
Some highlights from this report
- ' percentage of young people that have tried an illegal drug peaked in 1995-96 and has stabilised, or possibly even come down, since then.'
Young People and Illegal Drugs into 2000 summarises survey responses from 40,229 UK pupils aged 9-15 that took part in surveys in 1999, with a 'look-back' across more than 300,000 that have supplied us with 'drugs' data since 1987.
In our previous 1998 report we presented evidence that young people's reported personal experience of illegal drug use, which had been rising steadily since 1987, had shown signs of levelling off in 1997. With the 1998 and 1999 data now available, we are confident that there has indeed been a LEVELLING OFF, and possibly even a DOWNTURN, in this age group's experience of drugs.
Some of the 1999 results:
1. Safety of drugs Asked how safe or unsafe they thought illegal drugs were, 50% of 12-13s and 35% of 14-15s thought cannabis was always unsafe. This compares with respective values of 60% and 70% for cocaine, 62% and 78% for ecstasy, and 50% and 68% for solvents.
2. Regular use of drugs About 8% of the 14-15s said that at some point in their lives they had used cannabis regularly. Of the other drugs, only amphetamines and solvents had been used regularly by 1% or more of the sample.
3. Obtaining drugs We asked the young people if they knew where to obtain different illegal drugs. Of the 12-13s, 18% knew where to obtain at least one of them. For the 14-15s, 39% knew where to obtain one of them, and 25% knew of a source of cannabis.
4. Last use of drugs Asked when they had last used an illegal drug, the 14-15 year olds responded as follows: In the past month Males 13% Females 12%
In the past year Males 9% Females 9%
More than a year ago Males 3% Females 3%
5. Knowledge of drug users We asked the young people if they were fairly sure or certain that they knew a drug user. This is how they answered: 12-13 year olds Males 28% Females 28%
14-15 year olds Males 56% Females 61%
When we asked primary-school children the same question, this is how they answered: 9-10 year olds Males 21% Females 17%
10-11 year olds Males 24% Females 18%
6. Offers of drugs When asked if they had ever been offered an illegal drug, 16% of the 12-13s and 44% of the 14-15s said they had.
The figures for offers of cannabis were: 12-13 year olds Males 12% Females 9%
14-15 year olds Males 37% Females 35%
7. Worries about drugs The proportion that worry about drugs has declined over the past few years. In 1995 and 1996 more than 20% of the 12-13s and 14-15s worried 'quite a lot' or 'a lot'. In 1999 we obtained an average figure of less than 10%.
8. Talking about drugs We asked primary-school children aged 9-11 who (if anyone) they would like to talk to them about illegal drugs.
More than 60% would like their parents to, and more than 30% would like their teachers to.
9. Offers of cannabis What happened the first time these young people were offered cannabis?
Of the 12-13s, 14% of the males and 13% of the females accepted.
Of the 14-15s, 29% of the males and 28% of the females accepted.
For the 14-15s, the strongest reason for accepting was curiosity, and the strongest reason for refusing was fear of getting into trouble with their parents.
10. Legalising cannabis If cannabis were made legal, 12% of the 14-15 males and 7% of the females said that they would use it more often.
However, most of these young people also said that they currently use cannabis anyway. Only 3% of the non-users say that they would start using cannabis if it were made legal.
11. Mixing drugs Taking different drugs at the same time, or taking with drugs with alcohol, is particularly dangerous. We discovered the following percentages that had taken drugs in combination:
12-13 year olds Males 2% Females 1%
14-15 year olds Males 6% Females 4%
And for taking drugs and alcohol together:
12-13 year olds Males 3% Females 3%
14-15 year olds Males 16% Females 15%