Illegal drug use by young people is more than double official estimates, major study reveals
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Illegal drug use by young people is more than double official estimates, according to a major study amid fears it may be hampering efforts to combat the problem.
The research by Bristol University found more than a third (36.7 per cent) of young people aged 16 to 24 admitted to taking illegal drugs including cannabis, cocaine or amphetamines in the past year.
This compared with just 16.4 per cent in the Office for National Statistics’ (ONS) Crime Survey for England and Wales, which is used by Government policy makers to develop strategies to combat illegal drugs use.
The researchers believe the reason for the underestimate by the official ONS survey lies in the methodology because the Bristol findings are based on in-depth relationships with families who have been tracked by academics for years.
By contrast, the ONS results are based on one-off, face-to-face interviews where the participants may be more reluctant to admit their illegal drug use to a stranger.
The same disparity was ...
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