UK News

BRITISH YOUTH'S DRUG ABUSE 'HIGHEST IN EUROPE'

LEVELS of recorded drug abuse in Britain are up to five times higher among
teenagers and young adults than in other European countries, a survey
published last week reveals. The report by the Lisbon-based European
Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction, based on official statistics
gathered by EU member states, shows that the proportion of British teenagers
and adults in their 20s taking a range of drugs, including cannabis,
amphetamines, cocaine and Ecstasy, are at much higher levels than in states
such as France and Germany.

The figures indicate that whereas 36 per cent of Britons in that age range
took cannabis, comparable figures for France were 25.7 per cent, Germany 21
per cent and Spain 22 per cent. Only Denmark, from a much smaller survey,
records similar figures to Britain's. For cocaine, only Spain beat the
British figure of 4 per cent.

Nine per cent of young Britons were reported to have experimented with
Ecstasy, compared with just 2.8per cent in Germany and 1per cent in Sweden
and Belgium.

The report says that even allowing for differences in the size, date and age
range of the national surveys, the UK returns are significantly higher than
those of other countries. It adds: "Recent cannabis use [last 12 months] is
reported by 1 to 9 per cent of the adult population, depending on the
country; Finland, Sweden and eastern Germany present the lowest rates, and
Spain and the UK the highest.

"Recent use is higher among young adults, in most countries between 3 and 10
per cent although reaching 20 per cent in the UK."

The report also records disturbing rises in the use of illegal drugs in
eastern European countries, where the authorities have disproportionately
fewer resources to deal with the problem.Researchers found that seizures of
cannabis in EU states had levelled out since 1994, after quadrupling in the
previous decade, while there are also signs that Ecstasy use may have
levelled off. The use of heroin and cocaine is still on the increase.

Checked-by: Rolf Ernst