More teen boys try booze and drugs

ONE in 10 youngsters has tried hard drugs such as cocaine, ecstasy and ketamine by 17 – and a third have used cannabis, a huge study found.

Boys were more likely to have sampled drugs and binge boozed, while white teenagers had higher rates of experimenting than their BAME peers.

More than double the number of white teens had taken hard drugs and triple the amount had indulged in a bingeing session – downing at least five alcoholic drinks.The research – which analysed data from 10,000 youngsters – discovered drug use remained similar at age 17 regardless of how educated their parents were.

But teens whose mothers and fathers had at least a degree were more likely to have binge boozed (59 per cent versus 50 per cent).

One in 10 across all backgrounds reported heavy drinking at least 10 times in the previous year. Lads were more likely than girls to use cannabis (34 per cent vs 28 per cent), take harder drugs (12 vs eight per cent) and binge drink (56 vs 51 per cent).

University College London drew on the Millennium Cohort Study, a nationally representative study of teenagers born around 2000.

The youngsters’ responses on drink and drugs came when they were 17 in 2018/9.The same group were also quizzed about anti-social behaviour

– as they had been at age 14. Reports of non-sexual assault dropped from 32 per cent at 14 to 25 per cent at 17.

Vandalism, graffiti and weapon use was stable while more 17-year-olds admitted shoplifting than those aged 14 (seven per cent vs four per cent).

Again, youngsters whose parents were better educated were more likely to shoplift.

Prof Emla Fitzsimons said: “It remains to be seen how the pandemic has affected these behaviours.”