SHOCK RISE IN DRUG ABUSE AND UNDER-AGE DRINKING BY TEENAGERS

A SHOCKING new report is set to expose a dramatic increase in under-age
drinking and illicit drug use among Irish teens.

The report, to be published tomorrow, will alarm parents with its main
finding that Irish youngsters are starting to drink at a younger age than
ever before and that the numbers who drink frequently, and who have been
drunk 20 times or more, is increasing.

Health Minister Micheal Martin warned last week that the report would
contain "shocking and intolerable findings" that alcohol abuse among Irish
teenagers is now the worst in Europe.

Authors of the European School Survey Project on Alcohol and Other Drugs
(ESPAD) will also lay bare a new problem in this country; the abuse of
inhalants including solvents, adhesives, cleaning agents and anaesthetics.

And it will point to a disturbing finding that 22pc of boys and 21pc of
girls claimed to have used inhalants, a figure which is the highest of more
than 20 countries surveyed. Last night Eoin Ryan, the minister with
responsibility for the Government's National Drugs Strategy, said he was
surprised at the findings on inhalants. He said solvents could be seen as a
gateway drug to harder drugs.

Some of the main findings in relation to Irish teens are:

* Those who used any alcoholic drink 20 times or more in the last year has
increased from 32pc to 39pc, the second highest of 21 European countries.

* Those who have been drunk 20 times or more in their lifetime has
increased from 19pc to 25pc, the fourth highest behind Denmark (41pc), the
UK (29pc) and Finland (28pc).

* Those who have had lifetime experience of any illicit drugs has decreased
from 37pc to 32pc this is the third highest of the countries surveyed,
behind the UK (36pc) and the Czech Republic (35pc).

* Ireland heads a list of 29 countries surveyed, at 22pc, in relation to
the percentage of students who have used inhalants.

A senator has called for legal measures to tackle the scourge of under-age
drinking and drug abuse. Senator Labhras O Murchu told a gathering of 400
members of the Pioneer Total Abstinence Association in Tralee, Co Kerry:
"Our helpless response is very often dismissive. There is a need for
legislative measures.

"The victims are not only those directly involved but society as a whole
which suffers from muggings and killings by those who need money at any
cost to feed their habits."