Scottish Substance Use: The Numbers
Submitted by Ally
- 28 November 2016
The latest Scottish Schools Adolescent Lifestyle and Substance Use Survey (SALSUS) provides a national overview of the prevalence of smoking, alcohol consumption and drug use in 2015, as well as looks at trends over time. It assesses risk and protective factors associated with substance use, attitudes towards drugs, interventions provided by schools and sources of substances.
The publication reports its key findings as:
- Levels of substance use have generally remained stable since 2013. However, it remains the case that prevalence has declined over the last decade.
- Weekly drinking remains more common than smoking regularly or using drugs monthly.
- 80% of 15-year-olds and 95% of 13-year-olds do not regularly use substances.
- 2% of 15-year-olds and less than 1% of 13-year-olds regularly use either tobacco, drugs or drink alcohol.
On smoking, specifically:
- The prevalence of tobacco smoking has decreased considerably over time. However, the use of E-cigarettes has increased markedly between 2013 – 2015.
On alcohol consumption:
- Levels of alcohol consumption amongst teenagers remain more or less the same as those published in 2013. However, there was a small increase in the number of 13-year-olds who reported being drunk in the past week.
On drug use:
- The availability of drugs has increased in 2013 and there has been a small increase in the number of 15-year-olds who reported having taken drugs in the month prior to taking part in the survey.
On the back of such findings The Herald, a Scottish newspaper, rightly voices its concern over the way in which it seems that drugs may be becoming more socially acceptable and readily accessible.