TEENAGE DRUG USE SOARS

Dependency on alcohol and cannabis among New Zealand teenagers has reached
epidemic proportions, a hui on schools' drug education programmes in
Palmerston North was told yesterday.

Keynote speaker Phil Silva, the emeritus director of the Dunedin
Multidisciplinary Health and Development Research Unit, said one in 10
18-year-olds were dependent on alcohol and another 10 percent were
dependent on cannabis.

"If this was a contagious disease such as TB or leprosy, a 10 percent
prevalence would be considered an epidemic," Dr Silva said.

"It should be emphasised that the figures about the 18-year-olds were
collected about 10 years ago, prior to the lowering of the legal drinking
age from 20 to 18. Anecdotal evidence suggests that alcohol use by the
young will have dramatically increased since 1990."

Dr Silva's figures came from a study of more than 1000 children born in
Dunedin's Queen Mary obstetric hospital in 1972 and 1973. Entitled From
Child to Adult, it is a longitudinal study of the children, who have been
examined at two-year intervals from the age of three to the age of 15. They
were then followed up at ages 18, 21 and 26.

The multidisciplinary approach examined the subjects physiologically,
psychologically and socially. Use of drugs, alcohol and tobacco were also
studied and Dr Silva presented a worrying picture to the hui.

By the age of nine, almost half of all children had tried alcohol in the
previous month, with the level rising to an alarming 81 percent of
18-year-old girls and 88 percent of 18-year-old boys.

"We found that the greater the alcohol consumption, the greater was the
prevalence of criminal behaviour," he said. "Some of the criminal behaviour
was to raise funds to buy alcohol and some was related to behaviour while
under the influence of alcohol."

Dr Silva said sensible use and harm minimisation should be promoted, rather
than abstinence, because the problem was so prevalent. He added that all
young people should be targeted by preventive programmes.

"Because alcohol use begins early, educational programmes to prevent
alcohol abuse should begin early, that is, before adolescence," he said.

Cannabis prevention programmes should also start early, he said, and a
zero-tolerance approach should be taken to recognise the drug's illegality.

Levels of cannabis use were higher among the unemployed and those with a
history of violence, although he stressed that the link had not been fully
explained.

By the age of 15, 15 percent of the subjects had used cannabis.

The study showed disturbing links between smoking and underachievement.

A third of all 15-year-old girls were smokers, compared to 21 percent of
boys. By the age of 15, half of all female subjects had smoked in the
previous month, against 37 percent of boys.

The 15-year-old daily smokers differed from their peers in several ways.
Almost half left school after three years, they came from poorer
backgrounds, were about six months behind non-dependent smokers and
non-smokers in reading skills, had more behavioural problems and drank more
alcohol.

Dependent smokers also tended to get in trouble more often with the police.

Dr Silva recommended schools put together anti-smoking programmes for their
students, starting them early.

"It is clear that dependence can begin as young as age 13. Preventive
programmes should, therefore, begin well before age 13," he said.

The hui was organised for drug and alcohol counsellors from throughout the
lower North Island.