Polydrug use is a growing trend particularly
amongst regular party-goers, for whom
consuming alcohol, cannabis, amphetamines
and synthetic drugs such as ‘ecstasy’
(MDMA) becomes part of their lifestyle for
a while. On the other hand it is rare for
school students to experiment with heroin
and cocaine (lifetime use ranges from 0 %
to 4 %).
Official surveys of drug use amongst school
students tend to under-represent drug use
amongst vulnerable groups who are at risk
of developing drug problems.
Few countries have carried out surveys of
vulnerable young people, but where it has
been done a pattern of much higher drug
use emerges. For example, research from the
Netherlands shows that whilst 8 % of 12-16
year old school students have used cannabis
recently, this figure rises to 14 % of pupils in
special schools, 35 % of those in truancy
projects and 76 % of homeless young
people