MORE CHILDREN TURN TO DRINK AND DRUGS

A sharp increase in drinking and drug-taking by secondary school children
was reported yesterday by the Department of Health after a confidential
survey of 285 schools in England.

The research found the proportion of children aged 11-15 saying they drank
alcohol in the past week rose from 21% in 1999 to 26% last year.

More than half the 15-year-olds drank alcohol at least once a week, with
the boy drinkers consuming an average of 13.8 units over the previous seven
days - equivalent to almost seven pints of beer or more than two bottles of
wine.

The research showed 12% of pupils used drugs in the past month, compared
with 9% in the previous survey a year ago. But this may have been due to
changes in the way questions were asked, leading to more honest reporting
of glue sniffing and other solvent abuse.

The survey, carried out by the National Centre for Social Research (NatCen)
and the National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER), also found
that 10% of pupils aged 11-15 were regular smokers, the same proportion as
in 2000.

This was well within the government's target to reduce regular smoking
among people aged 11-15 from a baseline of 13% in 1996 to 11% by 2005.

As in previous years, girls were more likely to be regular smokers than
boys. By the age of 15, 25% of girls and 19% of boys said they smoked at
least once a week.

The increase in alcohol consumption worried campaigners who had been
encouraged by a fall among 11-15 year olds from a peak in the mid-1990s.
Average weekly consumption among pupils who had drunk in the past seven
days in creased steadily from 5.3 units in 1990 to 10.4 units in 2000. But
last year's figures showed a fall to 9.8 units. A unit of alcohol is about
half a pint of beer or lager, or a glass of wine or measure of spirits.

A spokesman for Alcohol Concern said: "Drinking is on the increase among
this age group. The evidence reinforces our call for a national alcohol
strategy placing the emphasis on education and prevention instead of
sweeping up the mess caused by alcohol misuse."

The most popular drug among secondary pupils under 16 was cannabis, with
13% saying they had used it in the past year, compared with 1% for heroin
and 1% for cocaine.

About 4% of pupils had used Class A drugs in the past year, compared with
7% who said they sniffed glue, gas, aerosols or other solvents. "Among 11-
and 12-year-olds, misuse of volatile substances in the last year was more
common than use of cannabis," the report said. About 1% of 11-year-olds
used cannabis and 4% used solvents. Among 12-year-olds, 3% used cannabis
and 5% solvents.

Pupils were asked about which drugs they had been offered in the past year.
More than two-fifths said they had been offered at least one (44% of boys
and 39% of girls).

As in previous years cannabis was the drug most likely to have been
offered, with 27% of pupils reporting an invitation to buy or consume,
compared with 22% for stimulants including cocaine, crack, ecstasy and
amphetamines, and 20% offered glue or gas.

"The likelihood of having ever been offered drugs increased sharply with
age, reaching 66% among 15-year-olds," said the report, commissioned by the
Department of Health and the Home Office.