Smoking, Drinking and Drug Use among Young People in England, 2021 (NHS Digital)

NHS Digital has recently published the results of a two-yearly look at young people use of alcohol, smoking and drugs. The survey would have fallen during the pandemic, so it was postponed for a year. The survey took the opportunity to also ask questions about the impact of lockdown.

Almost 10,000 secondary aged children (Years 7 -11) answered questions on a range of topics including prevalence, habits, attitudes, and wellbeing.

Cigarette smoking

Today, nearly 90% of 11 – 16 year olds said that they had never tried cigarettes. Thirty years ago, half of the children asked said they had smoked at least once, with a fifth identifying as regular smokers. In this latest survey, only 1% of the young people said they were regular smokers; in 2018 this figure was 2%. In 2019, around 14% of adults smoke cigarettes, compared to 35% in 1984. (Source: Adult smoking habits in the UK, ONS, 2019)

E-cigarettes and Vapes

The fall in young people smoking is perhaps unsurprising given the general reduction in numbers amongst over-16s and the legislative changes. 

The first questions about vaping were asked in this survey in 2014. Since then, the proportion of children who describe themselves as current e-cigarette users has increased by 9% since 2018. More girls vape than boys with twenty percent of 15 year old girls described as current users.

Drug use

There has been a fall in the prevalence of lifetime and recent illicit drug use. Just under a fifth of pupils across Years 7 – 11 reported they had ever taken drugs (down from 24% in 2018); 6% in the last month (9% in 2018). 

The survey has interesting data on where children get their drugs, and where they obtained the first drugs they used. Sixty percent of children who used cannabis were given it by a friend, usually of their own age.

Most commonly, children who used drugs more than once, obtain their drugs outdoors, for example, in a park or on the street. In 2018, 12% of drugs were obtained in school, by 2021 this had fallen to 5%. Usually, children are using drugs with their friends, but nearly a fifth said they were alone. 

For the first occasion, over half the children who said they used drugs did so ‘to see what it was like’. For the ‘most recent occasion’, 50% said it was ‘to get high or feel good’. Around a quarter said it was ‘to forget about my problems’. Though never the most common reason, ‘because friends were doing it’ does feature in the top four reasons for all the drug types examined.

Sources from which pupils have obtained helpful information about drug use

Pupils were most likely to have obtained helpful information about drug use from parents (70%) and teachers (66%). Other people from whom pupils got helpful information were other relatives (42%), friends (42%) and police in schools (38%).

I think this survey gives us some interesting data that helps us better understand the context that young people live in and in particular their perceptions. 

Find the data here: https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/smoking-drinking-and-drug-use-among-young-people-in-england/2021