Positive Signs That Teenagers Increasingly Shun The Most Problematic Drugs, UK

More teenagers in England who need it are receiving help for problems
involving
drug and alcohol use, but fewer have problems severe enough to require
treatment
for addiction, new national statistics reported on Wednesday by the National
Treatment
Agency for Substance Misuse (NTA), show.


The number of teenagers entering treatment for heroin and crack has fallen
by a
third in four years according to the NTA report 'Substance misuse among
young
people - The data for 2008/09'; this echoes the trend already seen in
young
adults (aged 18-24) in drug treatment.


The overall number of under-18s accessing specialist substance misuse
services
in England during 2008/9 was 24,053. This is a modest increase of about
150 over
2007/8, and indicates that demand for such services is levelling out. The
vast
majority of these young people are receiving help for problems associated
with
the misuse of cannabis and/or alcohol, which are treated with structured
counselling. Drug treatment services in England are now widely available
and
anyone who needs help can get it quickly.


Evidence continues to suggest that overall drug and alcohol use among the
general population of young people is declining, and the increasing
availability
of specialist substance misuse services ensures that many more of the
minority
who do need help are getting it.


Reported trends show:
The number of under-18s needing help for problem drug use associated
with
heroin and crack has dropped from 1,081 in 2005/06 to 657 in 2008/09.
The number being helped for cocaine use had increased by more than
half
last year to 806, compared to 453 in 2005/06, and this year fell to 746.
The
primary use of these drugs represents six per cent of the total number of
young
people receiving help in 2008/09.
Cannabis accounted for 12,642 individuals and alcohol 8,799,
accounting for
almost nine out of 10 of all young people receiving support in the year.
Addiction is rare among young people, and an NTA analysis of trends
in
interventions offered to under-18s over the last four years shows a steady
decline in the reported incidence of problems with hard drugs more
commonly
associated with addiction in adults.

Rosanna O'Connor, NTA Director of Delivery, said:



"The pattern of decline echoes a similar generational shift away from
heroin and
crack use among young adults in treatment, which is a further indication
that
the heroin epidemic may have peaked. It would also suggest that young
people are
getting help for substance misuse before their problems become entrenched.



"Most young people receiving substance misuse interventions cannot be
described
as addicts in the same way as adults in treatment. Addiction is normally
the
result of regular, consistent use of substances over time; most under-18s
who
have problems have not pursued drug taking long enough to result in
dependency."


Nearly three quarters of all young people receiving help in 2008/09
received
psychosocial interventions such as counselling, to address the underlying
causes
and behavioural consequences of substance misuse. Over a fifth received a
mix
of psychosocial, family work and harm reduction interventions.



The NTA report is available on the NTA website
and
updates the broad picture of drug and alcohol misuse in under-18s in
England
established by the publication of the first comprehensive report on the
issue in
January 2009 'Getting to grips with substance misuse among young people.'



Source
National
Treatment
Agency for Substance Misuse