Epidemiology of Adolescent Substance Use in London Schools

Alcohol and substance use in adolescence can be associated with a range of health, emotional, social, behavioural and legal problems. There has been a change in the recreational drugs available to users in recent years, however little is known about how this impacts on the youngest and most vulnerable population of substance users.

To investigate the prevalence of substance use among children aged 15-18 years in London schools.

Students aged 15-18 years in three London schools self-completed the questionnaire which collected demographic data (age, gender and ethnicity) and data on frequency of use of alcohol, tobacco and classical recreational drugs and novel psychoactive substances.

Completed surveys were available from 533 students (47.8% of those invited to participate). 

• 20.4% students reported life-time use of at least one recreational drug, 
• cannabis (18.7%) was commonly reported and 
• only 1.1% reported use of a novel psychoactive substance. 
• 47.8% reported using alcohol at least once; 
• those from White and Mixed ethnic groups were more likely to report using alcohol than those in other ethnic groups. 
• 74.2% students reported using tobacco at least once, students from ethnic minorities were more likely to smoke than their White counterparts.

This study supports previous findings that alcohol and drug use are declining in adolescents in the UK. There are different patterns of substance use amongst different ethnic groups; this is important to schools and policy makers planning interventions related to substance use in school aged children.

Via:  http://goo.gl/w5BFJ2 Purchase full article at: http://goo.gl/i0C80k

By:  Penney J1, Dargan PI2, Padmore J1, Wood DM3, Norman IJ1.

• 1Florence Nightingale Faculty of Nursing & Midwifery, King's College London, London, UK.
• 2Clinical Toxicology, Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust and King's Health Partners, London, UK Faculty of Life Sciences and Medicine, King's College London, London, UK
• 3Clinical Toxicology, Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust and King's Health Partners, London, UK Faculty of Life Sciences and Medicine, King's College London, London, UK.

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