Drug Use Across Adolescence
| DOI | 10.1177/026455059904600411 |
| Published date | 01 December 1999 |
| Date | 01 December 1999 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
265
levels
than
any
element
of
the
‘Striving’
group.
Unemployed
members
of
the
’Rising’
group
also
had
higher
levels
than
their
counterparts
in
any
other
group.
Other
findings:
.
Drug
misuse
remains
an
uncommon
or
short-lived
activity;
although
a
third
of
those
aged
16-59
have
tried
drugs,
the
figures
for
recent
use
are
much
lower.
.
It
was
a
cause
for
concern
that
for
young
people
aged
16-24,
the
lifetime
prevalence
of
any
drug
use
increased
from
45%
in
1994
to
52%
in
1998.
However,
about
half
of
this
number
were
not
continuing
to
use
drugs
in
the
last
year
or
month.
.
There
is
a
strong
connection
between
drug
use
and
unemployment:
40%
of
unemployed
young
people
reported
drug
use
in
the
last
year
compared
to
25%
of
those
in
employment.
.
Alcohol
use
is
a
strong
indicator
of
drug
use.
For
example,
those
young
people
visiting
pubs
or
bars
at
lunchtimes
had
high
rates
of
drug
use
in
the
last
year
(53%).
.
Cannabis
is
still
by
far
the
most
popular
drug,
with
over
a
half
of
all
drug
users
restricting
themselves
to
this
substance.
Over
the
last
two
years
use
of
cannabis
by
men
rose
from
25%
to
29%.
Women’s
consumption
remained
static
over
the
last
four
years
at
around
17%.
Drug
Misuse
Declared
in
1998:
Results
from
the
British
Crime
Survey,
by
Malcolm
Ramsay
and
Sarah
Partridge,
Home
Office
Research
Study
197,
1999.
Drug
Use
Across
Adolescence
While
they
acknowledge
the
that
&dquo;snapshot
surveys&dquo;
have
provided
useful
information
about
the
prevalence
of
drug
trying,
the
authors
of
this
report
argue
that
research
must
give
more
attention
to
young
people’s
drug
careers.
Their
research
was
motivated
largely
by
the
concern
that
surveys
over
the
last
decade
have
made
little
progress
in
&dquo;defning,
delineating
and
measuring
more
regular
drug
use&dquo;.
As
a
consequence,
they
have
failed
adequately
to
separate
more
long-
term
users
from
the
’triers’,
or
to
identify
more
problematic
users.
The
report
describes
the
initial
findings
of
a
longitudinal
study
intended
to
measure
the
impact
of
an
’integrated’
drugs
prevention
programme
(aiming
drug
education
at
parents
and
children
via
school
and
community
schemes)
in
towns
in
Northumbria
and
West
Yorkshire.
It
identifies
’baseline’
information
about
the
sample
populations,
such
as
their
social
profile
and
drug
using
behaviour,
against
which
the
impact
of
the
integrated
programme
can
be
measured.
The
sample
itself
comprises
over
2,500
young
people
in
two
cohorts,
aged
13-15
and
15-17
years
old,
followed
during
two
out
of
the
three
years
of
the
study.
One
of
the
main
findings
was
that
drug
trying
rates
were
high,
particularly
in
Northumbria,
where
at
the
age
of
thirteen
34%
reported
having
tried
at
least
one
illicit
drug,
rising
to 51%
for
the
same
sample
a
year
later.
For
the
older
group,
by
the
age
of
sixteen,
60%
of
those
from
Northumbria
and
53%
of
the
West
Yorkshire
sample
had
tried
at
least
one
illicit
drug.
However,
between
a
quarter
and
a
third
of
young
people
who
had
tried
a
drug
were
not
classified
by
this
study
as
drug
users,
either
because
they
had
tried
the
drug
over
a
year
ago,
or
because
they
had
no
intention
of
taking
the
drug
again.
Other
findings:
.
Six
in
ten
14
year
olds
and
eight
in
ten
16
year
olds
had been
in
situations
where
drugs
were
offered
or
available.
.
Young
people
lost
to
the
research
between
years
one
and
two
(because
they
were
absent
from
the
schools
where
the
surveys
were
conducted,
through
truancy
or
other
reasons)
were
more
likely
to
have
tried
drugs
than
those
in
school.
.
About
half
the
younger
sample
and
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