Drug use has declined among teenagers in United Kingdom
BMJ 2000; 320 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.320.7248.1536/a (Published 03 June 2000) Cite this as: BMJ 2000;320:1536
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SIR -
Plant and Miller (2000) report that illicit drug use has declined
since they carried out a survey in 1995. Their overall findings are
broadly in agreement with similar work undertaken by Goddard and Higgins
(1999) and by ourselves. Goddard and Higgins reported that 7% of 11-15-
year olds said they had used illicit drugs within the past month and that
prevalence increased sharply with age from no recent use at age 11 to 18%
at age 15.
Our, data, collected by self-report questionnaire during the latter
part of 1999 and the first three months of 2000 from a stratified sample
of 28 schools in England, (n = 9,742 11-16 year olds) show that regular,
monthly, illicit drug use rose from 1% at age 11 to 14.5% at age 16 with
an overall mean of 5.5%. Highest illicit drug use was by 15-year old boys
(16.8%), Figure 1.
We also found that daily cigarette smoking rose from 4.8% at age 11
to 24.1% at age 16: mean use was 11.7%. More girls than boys smoked
(13.7%, 9.5%) with peak use being by 16-year old girls (31.2%). In
contrast Goddard and Higgins (1999) found that only 1% of 11-year olds
claimed to be regular smokers.
Our data showed that regular, weekly, alcohol drinking rose from 5.1%
at age 11 to 36% at 16: mean use was 14.5%. Alcohol was drunk more by boys
than girls (16.4%, 12.8%). Highest use was by 16-year old boys, 42.6% of
whom said they drank at least weekly. Goddard and Higgins reported that
only 3% of 11-year olds in their 1998 sample drank on a weekly basis.
Although overall substance use by adolescents, both licit and
illicit, appears to be declining, it is possible that these data indicate
a general increase in substance use by 11 and 12-year old children against
a background of an overall decrease by 13-16 year olds.
References
Goddard, E. and Higgins, V (1999), Smoking, drinking and drug use among
young teenagers in 1998, Volume 1: England, Office for National Statistics
Social Survey Division, London, The Stationary Office.
Plant, M. and Miller, P. (2000) Drug use has declined among teenagers
in United Kingdom, British Medical Journal, 320, 1536.
Competing interests: No competing interests
Sir,
Plant and Miller mentioned the dummy drug “relevin” in their
letter (1). This “fictitious drug” is also cited in the forward study
published in the BMJ by the same authors (2). In this article they
justified its use to detect overreporting drug use, but they did not
explain why they selected this name (“relevin”).
When the first article by
Plant and Miller was published I could not find any reference in Medline
about this term, not even after an internet seek by means some search
engines. I tried again after the last letter and once again Medline search
did not achieve any result. However, a new internet search has provided
results. Firstly, it has located two European reports that mentioned
“relevin”, one from Denmark in Danish (3) and the other named The European
Study DDRAM (Drug Dependence: Risk And Monitoring) (4). Neither
gave details about the origin of this word. Surprisingly, another web page
was found where “relevin” figured as a “herbal cure for migraine
headaches” in capsule form (5). Considering these results, it is
recommended an adequate explanation for the source and the concrete use of
this term.
1.Plant M, Miller P. Drug use has declined among teenagers in United
Kingdom. BMJ 2000; 320: 1536
2.Miller PM, Plant M. Drinking, smoking, and illicit drug use among 15 and
16 year olds in the United Kingdom. BMJ 1996; 313: 394-7
3.Svarfordeling pa Sporgeskema: Alkohol og stoffer:
http://www.uvm.dk/pub/1998/sundhedsvaner/14.htm
4.Final Report of the European Study DDRAM (Drug Dependence: Risk And
Monitoring): http://www.bisdro.uni-bremen.de/ddram/final.htm
5.Relevin- Herbal Cure For Migraine Headaches:
http://www.westernherbals.com/migraine.htm
Competing interests: No competing interests
Drug Use may be increasing in Northern Ireland
Sir -
Plant and Miller (1) provide survey evidence of a decline in
adolescent drug use in the UK between 1995 and 1999. While such findings
may be indicative of secular trends in UK drug use prevalence, they may
also mask differing regional trends.
Recent data from the Northern Ireland Crime Survey (NICS), a
household survey in which about 2000 adults aged 16-59 were asked about
their consumption of illicit drugs, shows that drug use in Northern
Ireland (NI) has remained static and in some cases increased (see Table
1). Between 1994 and 1998 lifetime drug use increased from 20% to 24%.
Increases were more marked amongst younger males aged 16-29. Amongst this
population, drug use within the last year, a better measure in drug use
trends, significantly increased from 23% to 28%. Cannabis use within the
last 12 months significantly increased from 16% to 23%, and ecstasy use
showed a non-significant rise from 5% to 11%. While Plant and Miller noted
significant decreases in drug use amongst teenage girls, data from the
NICS indicates that drug use amongst females aged 16-29 in NI remained
fairly level between 1994 and 1998.
Table 1: Drug use among 16-29 year olds in Northern Ireland, 1994 to 1998: Percentages. ______________________ 1994 1998 ______________________ Any drug Males 23 28* Females 13 13 Cannabis use Males 16 23* Females 8 10 Ecstasy Males 5 11 Females 4 3 LSD Males 8 5 Females 1 1 _____________________ Notes Source: 1994 and 1998 Northern Ireland Crime Survey. * Significant at the 95% level assuming a Deff of 1.2.Such increases are of concern when it is considered that in practice,
Northern Ireland drug policy has lagged behind British policy over the
decades. Prevention activities remain relatively under funded in NI
compared to other parts of the UK. Additionally, harm reduction
strategies, incorporated in British drug policy since the mid 1980’s, have
only recently been evident in NI. In relation to the use of Ecstasy
(MDMA), in NI as late as 1998 several clubs still failed to provide
adequate ventilation, free water and chill out areas for club(2).
Northern Ireland for the most part does not permit methadone
maintenance and has yet to offer needle exchange. However, pilot sites are
now being installed in areas where the prevalence in injecting drug use is
high.
Andrew Percy, research statistician.
Kathy Higgins, research fellow.
Patrick McCrystal, research fellow.
Centre for Child Care Research, Queen’s University of Belfast, 5A
lennoxvale, Belfast, BT9 5BY.
1 Plant M, Miller P. Drug use has declined amongst teenagers in
United Kingdom, BMJ 2000; 320:1536.
2 McElrath K, McEvoy K. Ecstasy Use in Northern Ireland. Belfast:
The Stationary Office, 1999.
Competing interests: Table 1: Drug use among 16-29 year olds in Northern Ireland, 1994 to 1998: Percentages.______________________ 1994 1998______________________ Any drug Males 23 28*Females 13 13Cannabis use Males 16 23*Females 8 10Ecstasy Males 5 11Females 4 3LSD Males 8 5Females 1 1_____________________NotesSource: 1994 and 1998 Northern Ireland Crime Survey.* Significant at the 95% level assuming a Deff of 1.2.