More young people turn to drugs to ‘escape problems’

MORE young people are taking drugs to escape their problems and fewer to have fun, a report has found.

A survey of 2,000 people by the charity The Mix found one in three 16to 25-year-olds has taken an illegal drug in the last 12 months, around 2.6million people. This is a “dramatic” increase from the 22 per cent of a year ago.

Data also reveals 23 per cent of young people, around 1.8million, have done a class A, B or C drug in the last month.

“Increase in drug use following the removal of pandemic-related restrictions has been generally expected as young people can yet again freely socialise,” The Mix said in its annual report on drugs and alcohol intake in young people.

“However, an increase from 22 per cent in 2021 to 33 per cent in 2022 is very sharp.

“Anecdotal evidence suggests that some young people want to make up for lost time when they were not able to experiment with drugs in the company of others and that they are taking drugs to enjoy themselves while they can, in case pandemic restrictions return in the future.”

Cocaine (9 per cent) and ketamine (8 per cent) were the second and third most taken drugs, respectively, with cannabis the most common (22 per cent).

Methadone (7 per cent), ecstasy (6 per cent) and tranquilisers (5 per cent) were the next most widely used drugs.

Amphetamines, magic mushrooms and LSD were each being used by about 5 per cent of young people.

Anabolic steroids (4 per cent) are less commonly used, with smaller numbers using mephedrone (3 per cent) and heroin (2 per cent).

Data show that there has been a yearon-year increase for all drugs, with the biggest spikes seen for methadone (333 per cent), cannabis (21 per cent), amphetamines (92 per cent) and tranquilisers (66 per cent).

“Our data shows that while fewer young people are currently using substances to have fun, there has been a sharp increase in using substances to escape problems, with one in five substance users doing so,” the report’s authors write.

“A similar number use substances to help them cope with a mental health issue or emotional distress.

“Alarmingly, the proportion of young people taking substances as a habit, which indicates addiction, almost trebled from 5 per cent in 2021 to 14 per cent in 2022.”