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UK: Young Britons take most cannabis

Stewart Tendler

The Times

Friday 26 Nov 2004

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ENGLAND has the highest number of 15-year-olds who are heavy cannabis users
in Europe according to an EU report.

The annual survey from the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug
Addiction also shows about 7 per cent of British 15-year-olds use cannabis
at least 40 times a year.

It also shows that more schoolchildren have tried the drug than elsewhere
in the EU, with 40 per cent of 15-year-olds experimenting with it.

Cannabis use among 15 to 34-year-olds in England and Wales is the second
highest in Europe after Denmark.

Britain has the highest number of seizures but Spain accounts for half of
all cannabis seized in the past five years. The survey estimates that there
may be three million daily cannabis users in the EU and one in five young
people have tried it. The report says: 'There is concern that a small but
significant group, of predominantly young men, are using the drug more
intensively and that numbers of those doing so may be growing.'

Between 1 and 10 per cent of young Europeans have taken cocaine. Between 5
and 7 per cent of people aged 15 to 24 in Britain and Spain admitted to
using cocaine recently, with levels in towns and cities likely to be
'substantially higher'.

Britain and Spain have the highest use of the drug among 15-24-year-olds in
the past year across Europe with 2 per cent of the age group using the drug
against a European average of 1 per cent.

The report suggests rising use of cocaine and found that the number of
mentions of cocaine on death certificates in Britain increased eightfold
between 1993 and 2001 although still lower than for heroin.

The monitors report growing concern at the spread of crack cocaine in
British cities and Britain is among the top five countries for 'problem
drug users', reporting six to 10 cases for every 1,000 adults.

Caroline Flint, the Home Office minister responsible for drug policy, said
that the report was based on two-year-old data.

'More recent trends have seen a steady fall in the use of cannabis,
amphetamines and, more recently, ecstasy,' she said.

 

 

 

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