Drug use up sharply among the young

The rate of 15 and 16 year-olds dabbling in illicit drugs has risen more than sevenfold in 12 years, according to a new EU report.

In 1995, a mere two per cent of students this age admitted to using illicit drugs at least once in their lives. This figure has mushroomed to 15 per cent in 2007, says the report, launched yesterday in Brussels by the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Addiction (EMCDDA).

The figure is extrapolated from an as yet unpublished survey carried out in Malta last year.

Marijuana and hashish was the most common drug used by students keen on experimenting. Last year, 13 per cent of those surveyed mentioned this drug.

"The increase of lifetime prevalence (any use during a person's lifetime) of cannabis use is supported by the notion that the perception of ease of availability increased during the same period," the report says.

While the new data may come as a shock, the rates of cannabis use and other illicit drugs in Malta remained among the lowest in Europe.

The only exception was the use of inhalants, which was high in relation to other European countries.

In the 1995 and 2007 surveys, the lifetime prevalence rate of inhalants among the 15 and 16-year-olds stood at 17 and 16 per cent respectively.

The EMCDDA said the results of the 2007 survey, expected to be published later this year, showed that the lifetime prevalence of other illegal drugs - such as ecstasy, amphetamines, cocaine and heroin - was much lower in this age group than that of cannabis and varied from four per cent for ecstasy to one per cent for heroin. Analysing the market in Malta, the EU agency said cannabis remained the most widely used illicit drug on the island. Due to the favorable climatic conditions "it is very easy to grow cannabis, even without artificial assistance".

In 2006 (the latest data available), 39 per cent of the total drug haul was cannabis resin, followed by heroin (24 per cent) and ecstasy tablets (20 per cent).

In 2006, the police drug squad made 544 arrests for drug-related offences and 445 persons were charged. Of these, 76 per cent were charged for possession, 15 per cent for trafficking and nine per cent for a combination of trafficking and possession.