DROP IN DRUG USE AMONG YOUNG

DRUG use among young teenagers is falling for the first time in five years,
according to a report published today. The survey, by academics at Exeter
University, shows that a quarter of 14 to 15-year-olds tried drugs last
year against a third in 1996.

Research among 23,317 pupils in 122 schools also shows that 27 per cent of
teenagers in rural areas had experience last year of one or more drug,
compared to 18 per cent of those in towns and cities.

The Exeter Schools Health Education Unit said that despite the drop from a
third of the age group experimenting in 1996, the long-term trend was up.
"The percentage of youngsters of 12 to 13 in 1996 that recorded experience
of illegal drugs was greater than that of 15 to 16-year-olds in 1987."