ISSUES
: Drugs
Chapter 1: Drug issues
4
Smoking, drinking and drug use: new
trends and what they mean
By Michael O’Toole
T
he latest instalment of the
Health and Social Care
Information Centre’s (HSCIC)
ongoing survey of young people
1
,
published on 23 July 2015, sheds
light on several issues that continue
to whirl around media and public
opinion.
Since the 1980s, the
Smoking,
Drinking and Drug Use Among
Young People in England
series has
been a valuable indicator of current
and emerging trends in young
people’s attitudes towards drug
use. This year’s report confirms
the continuation of a number of
positive trends, highlights areas for
improvement, and, for the first time,
provides useful insight into the
scale of the NPS problem among
young people.
Broad trends are
overwhelmingly positive
The number of 11- to 15-year-
olds who have tried alcohol is at
its lowest level (38%) since the
survey began, and only 8% drank
in the last week. There are a
number of potential reasons for this
ongoing decline – DEMOS recently
reported
2
that social media is cited
as a distraction and/or a deterrent
to heavy drinking for as many as
four in ten young people – but it
appears that the trend is due to a
mix of changing attitudes towards
health and drunkenness, as well as
the impact of migrants from non-
drinking cultures.
But the numbers should still
be treated with caution: HSCIC
estimates suggest that 240,000
1
Smoking, Drinking and Drug Use Among Young
People in England – 2014 [NS]
. Health & Social
Care Information Centre. Published July 23, 2015.
Accessed March 14 2016.
/
catalogue/PUB17879.
2 Owen, Jonathan. 2015.
Forget Pubs And Clubs,
Today’s Youth Would Rather Be On Social Media.
The Independent. Accessed March 14 2016. http://
/
news/temptations-of-alcohol-being-replaced-by-lure-
of-social-media-for-many-young-britons-says-new-
study-10391081.html.
11-to-15-year-olds drank in the last
week, representing a significant
amount of underage drinking; and
almost one in ten young people
drank 15 units or more. Further,
these cases of heavy underage
drinking are linked to other risky
behaviours, including smoking, drug
use and truancy, suggesting that
there is a need to target prevention
initiatives at a significant minority of
vulnerable young people.
The role of parents
The survey also highlighted the
profound influence of parents on
young people’s drinking behaviour.
Only 2% of pupils who said their
parents did not like them to drink
had drunk alcohol in the last week,
compared to 44% of those whose
parents did not mind. Along with
the fact that families are one of the
main sources of procuring alcohol,
this strengthens the evidence that
parents can be one of the most
important protective factors in
young peoples’ lives.
HSCIC findings with regard to other
drugs were similarly positive: the
number of 11- to 15-year-olds who
have ever smoked (19%) is as low
as it has ever been and, although
the decline has slowed, fewer
school-aged children have ever
taken illegal drugs.
Given the tone of media reporting
3
– headlines such as, “Will your
child die from a legal high?” and
“Primary school kids taking legal
highs” – data on NPS is particularly
intriguing. 2.5% of young people
had tried an New Psychoactive
Substances (NPS), compared to
15% who had taken illicit drugs,
most commonly cannabis; and
despite being the ‘legal high capital
of Europe’, only half of respondents
had heard of ‘legal highs’.
3
Kids These Days Are Smoking And Drinking A
Lot Less Than They Used To
. 2016. The Huffington
Post UK. Accessed March 14 2016.
.
huffingtonpost.co.uk/2015/07/23/children-drug-use-
alcohol-smoking-legal-highs-kill_n_7855548.html.
The role of schools
Finally, the survey elicited insight
into the status of drug education in
schools. Echoing Mentor’s findings
in 2013
4
, HSCIC report that the vast
majority of schools provide one
lesson per year on smoking, drinking
and drug use, with fewer than one
in ten schools offering lessons more
than once a term. Consequently,
satisfaction with drug education has
decreased in recent years: today, 60%
of young people think schools gave
enough information about smoking,
56% about drinking and 54% about
drug use; and almost half of young
people could not recall learning about
any of these.
Therefore, despite a continual
downward trend in drug use and some
improvements in drug education,
including the ongoing development of
Mentor-ADEPIS (mentor-adepis.org),
there are still some areas of concern.
In particular, there is a need to target
the most vulnerable young people,
who are often susceptible to a range
of interlinked risky behaviours. The
report also highlights certain widely
reported problems that are perhaps
not as serious as popular opinion
suggests. Although NPS remain a
concern, their use is not prevalent
among 11- to 15-year-olds, which
suggests that a holistic approach to
drug education and prevention at an
early age remains the best way to
protect young people from a range of
interconnected risks.
29 July 2015
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The above information is reprinted
with kind permission from Mentor
UK. Please visit
.
org.uk for further information.
© Mentor UK 2016
4
“We Don’t Get Taught Enough”: An Assessment Of
Drug Education Provision In Schools In England: Drugs
And Alcohol Today: Vol 15, No 3
. 2016. Drugs And
Alcohol Today.
/
abs/10.1108/DAT-03-2015-0014.
