Drug use, smoking and drinking among young people in England

The following draws on the annual survey carried out for the government of pupils aged 11 to 15 years in 2009, the last year for which figures have been published. The full  report, Drug use, Smoking and drinking among young people in England in 2009, can be downloaded from www.ic.nhs.uk.

The report is based on a survey of over 7,500 pupils aged between 11 and 15 from schools throughout England in the autumn term of 2009.

Drug Use

(Drugs include illegal drugs, volatile substances and other drugs not obtained from a doctor or chemist.)

Drug Use by Young People in England in 2009
  • 22% have taken drugs in their lifetime (29% in 2001); 15% had taken drugs in the last year (20% in 2001); 8% in the last month (12% in 2001)
  • 8.9% took cannabis in the last year; down from 13.4% in 2001
  • Less than one in ten pupils thought that it would be OK for someone of their age to try drugs or take them regularly.
  • 59% of pupils reported that they remembered receiving health education lessons about drugs in the last year.

Information

Parents were consistently seen by young people as a useful source of information about smoking (75%), alcohol (77%) and drugs (63%).

Teachers were similarly held in high regard by pupils who reported they were a useful source of information about smoking (70%), alcohol (63%), and drugs (63%). Teachers were seen as the most useful source of information about drugs.

Value of lessons

The report says that 96% of pupils who recalled lessons about drugs said that it helped them think about the risks of taking drugs.

Smoking

Smoking amongst young people in England 2009
  • 29% of pupils have tried smoking – down from 53% in 1982
  • 6% say they are regular (weekly) smokers
  • The mean number of cigarettes smoked during a week by regular smokers was 38.1.

Alcohol

Alcohol use by young people in England in 2009

  • 48% say that they have never drunk alcohol, up from 39% in 2003
  • 18% say they have drunk alcohol in the last week, down from a peak of 26% in 2001

For those who are drinking there was a change in the way that the amounts are calculated in 2007. The report makes it clear that this makes it impossible to compare the figures given before the change and now. However they do say:

Pupils who drank alcohol in the last week had a mean intake of 11.6 units, and a median intake of 7.0 units. 

Drug Misuse Declared

The Home Office's annual analysis of the British Crime Survey's data on drug use by adults includes sections on young adults (16 to 24 years).  

The trends appear to be of a continuing and substantial falls in the proportions who have ever used drugs (down 8% from 1996), those who used last year (10% down from '96) and those who say they've used in the last month (7% down from '96).

But beneath the trend the sheer scale of drug use becomes clear with the report estimating that 2.7 million (41%) young adults have used illicit drugs at some point in their lives. And an estimate that over 480 thousand young (7.3%) adults are frequent drug users. 

 

Drug Misuse Declared