Source: The Scotsman, Edinburgh, UK
Contact: Letters_ts@scotsman.com

Drink is worse than cannabis, say young

Most young Scots say it is more acceptable to take drugs than to get
drunk and a majority of girls north of the Border have lost their
virginity by their 16th birthday, a survey says.

The research found that of those who did so, the average age for smoking
their first cigarette was 13; getting drunk and sniffing glue, 14;
smoking cannabis, 15; selling drugs, 17.

The survey was carried out for Stirling Council by police and youth
researchers to provide uptodate information on the lifestyles of 16 to
25yearolds.

Commenting on drug abuse the survey said: "Not all young people take
drugs or take them a lot, but a lot of young people do take them and
think it's OK to do so."

Many of the young people believed that cannabis should be legalised, as
they saw it as less of a problem then drink.

"Information given about drugs is preaching and negative and it turns
the readers off," the survey reported..

Almost all the young people interviewed (95 per cent) said they had got
drunk at least once.

Just over three quarters had smoked cigarettes (76 per cent).

Almost six in ten had smoked cannabis (58 per cent) anf four in ten had
taken other illegal drugs.

More than one in eight of the young people had sold drugs (13 per cent)
and 11 per cent had sniffed glue or aerosols at least once.

The survey quotes youngster's views on alcohol: "Drinking is seen as
less socially acceptable among young people than taking drugs.

"There are more attitude and behavioural problems with drink than with
drugs."

Nearly half of those surveyed smoked often (45 per cent) and a further
17 per cent were occasional smokers, but more than a fifth had never
smoked.

Of the 293 people who took part in the survey 122 (42 per cent) were
male and 171 (58 per cent) were female. They were interviewed and took
part in group discussions and focus groups.
Shug

Legalise Cannabis Campaign Scotland http://www.thepulse.co.uk/lcc.scotland

Media Awareness Project UK http://www.eezeecope.demon.co.uk/LegaliseUK/
pages/MAPUK.html

Legalize! http://www.legalize.org/global

UK Cannabis Internet Activists http://www.foobar.co.uk/users/ukcia/