Britain's Drugs Crisis: Problem among young

MORE THAN 80 per cent of young people have taken illegal drugs, according to a government-funded survey.

The study reveals that more than half of people aged 18 to 25 use cannabis and one in four regularly or occasionally take ecstasy and/or amphetamine.

The report, The Use of Drugs by Young People in Newcastle, by Dr Leslie Gofton at the University of Newcastle, will be published later this year. It surveyed 263 people in Newcastle upon Tyne.

It found that 82 per cent had taken cannabis, and more than half had tried ecstasy, amphetamine, LSD and magic mushrooms. Twenty-two per cent had tried cocaine or crack, but only 2 per cent still took it. Very few had taken heroin. Sixty-six per cent believed soft drugs were more pleasant than alcohol.