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Cannabis Campaigners' Guide News Database result:
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Drugs tsar failing to halt rise in child users Ian Burrell Independent Friday 24 Nov 2000 The number of children between 11 and 15 who admitted using drugs continued to rise last year, dealing a damaging blow to the Government's strategy for tackling the issue. Figures released yesterday by the Office for National Statistics will come as a disappointment for Keith Hellawell, whose contract as the UK drugs czar was recently renewed. Mr Hellawell had previously claimed to have identified encouraging signs that drug use among 12 to 14 year olds was on the decline. The ONS report showed that 12 per cent of 11 to 15 year olds admitted to taking drugs last year, compared with 11 per cent in 1998. Drug use among 14 to 15 year olds was most responsible for the increase. The ONS study of 9,000 secondary school children found that children in rural and middle-class areas were often more likely to use drugs than those in deprived areas. It also found that 30 per cent of children who said they did not do well at school used drugs, as did 22 per cent of those who agreed with the statement "my parents expect too much from me". The survey concluded that four out of 10 youngsters would have taken drugs by the time they reached the age of 16. Yesterday Mr Hellawell, who has set targets for driving down drug use over a 10-year period, said that children had to be given the full facts about the dangers of drugs. He said: "They are young adults and a policy of advising 'just say no', which has never been our policy, does not recognise the need for the kind of structured anti-drugs education programmes the Government has in place." The ONS study, which interviewed children from 340 schools in autumn last year, also found that 11 per cent of pupils had used cannabis in the past year, one in 100 had used crack or cocaine and one in 200 had used heroin or methadone. The survey,Drug Use, Smoking and Drinking in Young Teenagers in 1999, showed that children who used drugs were four times as likely to have stolen something over the past 12 months than those who did not. One in 100 11 year olds had used drugs over the past year, compared with 30 per cent of 15 year olds. The ONS found that 10 per cent of children in deprived areas took drugs compared with 13 per cent in non-deprived areas. Only 7 per cent of pupils who described themselves as Asian or Asian British took drugs compared with 12 per cent who described themselves as white, black or black British. As many as 45 per cent of those who used drugs in the last month were drinking alcohol at the same time. Six out of 10 got their drugs for nothing. One child in every 100 had tried drugs before their 11th birthday. By the age of 16, 39 per cent of children have tried drugs, 55 per cent have smoked cigarettes and 73 per cent have had an alcoholic drink, the report said.
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