MAJORITY OF YOUNG HAVE TAKEN DRUGS

CURIOSITY and the influence of friends are the main reasons why just over
half of our young people have tried illegal drugs.

Only one in eight mentioned boredom as the reason for trying drugs when
questioned in a survey carried out for the National Youth Council of
Ireland (NYCI).

Nearly half (45pc) said some drugs especially cannabis should be legalised
but 43pc disagreed while 12pc didn't know.

Seven out of 10 believed the Government was not adequately tackling the
drugs problem and only 7pc thought it was. Education and prevention should
get greater priority.

Other key findings from the survey of 1,400 young people:

* Unemployment was the key concern.

* A quarter of 15 to 24-year-olds were in part-time work.

* 40pc said spirituality was not important in their lives.

* 89pc are or had been a member of a youth organisation.

* 39pc said the education system was not suited to the labour market.

NYCI president Jillian Hassett said the survey was the most detailed and
comprehensive on Ireland's youth to date.

It should help organisations and institutions that dealt with young people,
she added.

VOTER APATHY

"The most important influence on young people today is their own friends.
It is the first place young people would turn to in a crisis, for advice on
sexual matters and it is the top influence on young people's body image,
coming ahead of fashion and the media," Ms Hassett said.

If an election were held tomorrow 79pc of registered voters said they would
vote while the remainder said they would not.

The NYCI said the fact that over a fifth of young voters were so apathetic
about the electoral system at such an early age was worrying.

The most popular political group was Fianna Fail (23pc), followed by Fine
Gael (13pc), Labour (12pc), Green Party (10 pc), PDs (5pc), Democratic Left
and Sinn Fein (both 3pc) and others (2pc).

Don't knows accounted for 29pc of the total sample of 1,400 young people,
North and South.

Fine Gael and the Green Party were more popular with young men than young
women. Labour and the PDs are more popular with young women.

Denis Naughton, Fine Gael spokesperson on youth affairs, said the survey
had clearly shown the Government's inability to tackle the growing drug
problem in both urban and rural Ireland.

"It is obvious that the increased seizure of illegal drugs by the gardai is
failing to combat the problem and that increased resources must concentrate
on education and preventative measures to reduce the demand for illegal
substances," he said.