TEENS LESS LIKELY TO SMOKE

TEENAGERS are smoking less than they did last year, but are slightly more
likely to take illegal drugs.

Figures from the Office for National Statistics show that the proportion of
11 to 15-year-olds who classify themselves as regular smokers fell from 11
to 9 per cent. It is the second consecutive year that smoking by young
teenagers has fallen.

More than 9,000 pupils in 340 schools were questioned in the survey.

The number who had taken illegal drugs in the last year rose from 11 to 12
per cent. There was no change in the number who said they had taken drugs
in the last month: 7 per cent.

Most had used cannabis (11 per cent), while only 2 per cent of pupils
reported contact with the next most-used substances - glue, gas and amyl
nitrate ("poppers").