NCJ Number
173216
Journal
Journal of Drug Issues Volume: 28 Issue: Dated: Pages: edition (Winter 1998)-32
Date Published
1998
Length
24 pages
Annotation
This paper gives an overview of some of the most recent research into the use of prohibited or illicit drugs by young people in Britain.
Abstract
The paper, based on 4 years of data from the University of Manchester northwest longitudinal study of English adolescent drug use, examines patterns of use of different drugs, differential experiences with these drugs, and characteristics of use and non-use throughout the mid-teens. Current research on the prevalence of illicit drug use identifies an unprecedented rise in such use by increasingly diverse groups of young people of all socioeconomic backgrounds. Along with this transformation in adolescent drug use has been a similar rise in the prevalence of drug use by young adults, concurrent with the dance party or "rave" scene in Britain, linked to the "dance revolution" and to a wider youth culture that reflects an acceptance of drug use by both users and non-users as a part of young people's leisure. This "normalization" of recreational drug use among young people is accompanied by legal, educational, employment, and health implications. Figure, tables, notes, references