The new Smoking, drinking and drug use among young people in England - 2016 report has been published showing an increase in the number of 11-15 year old pupils who report having used drugs. In their summary, the ONS note:
24 per cent of pupils reported they had ever taken drugs. This compares to 15 per cent in 2014. Part of the increase since 2014 may be explained by the addition of questions on nitrous oxide and new psychoactive substances. After allowing for this however, it still represents a large increase which has not been observed in other data sources. Therefore an estimate from the next survey in 2018 is required before we can be confident that these survey results reflect a genuine trend in the wider population. In the meantime the results for drug taking from this survey should be treated with caution.
Rates of use were as follows:
"The proportion saying they had taken volatile substances has been around 3% to 4% since 2010, and class A drug use around 2% to 3% across the same period. Nitrous oxide and new psychoactive substances were included in the drug prevalence measure for the first time in 2016, with 4% and 2% of pupils respectively saying that they had taken them in the last year."
Pupils’ early experience of drug use was most likely to involve cannabis (40%) or volatile substances (39%). After cannabis (21%), pupils were most likely to have been offered volatile substances (11%) or nitrous oxide (9%). Pupils who tried drugs at an earlier age were more likely to report using volatile substances.
The percentage of pupils who have used volatile substances in the past year has risen from 2.9% in 2014 to 4.4% in 2016 (4.1% boys and 4.8% girls). This does not include nitrous oxide or poppers which have been used by 4% and 0.6% of pupils respectively in the past year.
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VSA Headlines this month include:
UK
'Hippy crack' nitrous oxide IS an illegal drug - but only when it's being used to get high, rule senior judges: The party drug known as hippy crack is not a 'medicinal product' and is illegal, senior judges ruled today.
Dundee man, 30, caused alarm by inhaling gas: [He] admitted that on February 27, at Murraygate, he behaved in a threatening or abusive manner likely to cause fear or alarm, repeatedly inhaled gas from a gas canister and refused to desist, causing members of the public alarm.
Inmate collapses after inhaling nitrous oxide with other prisoners: Footage appearing to show inmates inside a UK prison inhaling nitrous oxide, street name 'hippy crack.
‘Toxic Terry’ inspires band: The recovery journey of a man who was once Preston’s most notorious vagrant has inspired a local band to write and record a song in the hope of raising cash for addiction charities.
Blow-by-blow: Celebrity Big Brother star Calum Best filmed ‘inhaling from a balloon’ on wild night out in London
ICELAND
How one country persuaded teens to give up drink and drugs: Iceland used to have a big teenage smoking, drinking and drug problem. Now it doesn't.
USA
‘Very deadly’: Utah woman loses daughter to compressed air addiction (UT): Last June, at age 26, she relapsed from an addiction to air duster, compressed chemicals used to clean computer equipment. She’d been struggling with the addiction for years.
Huffing case was difficult to prosecute, but why? (FL): Last week, he was convicted of huffing a can of Endust, getting behind the wheel of a vehicle and ultimately killing an East Hill woman.
Courtroom drama in Paoli teen case (OK): A detailed description of a night of huffing canned air was followed by heavy tears from one witness in a courtroom drama unfolding for a Paoli teenager facing a first-degree manslaughter charge.
Testimony begins in trial of man accused of child sex abuse (TX): In the interview, Sturgis admits to huffing but denies doing it around children.
Rexburg driver huffed compressed air before crash that injured 4 (ID): The driver of a vehicle who crashed into a light pole, injuring himself and three passengers, huffed compressed air from an air duster can moments before the wreck.
Man huffing gas cuts hole in Clay County apartment building (KY): According to police, England got high on gas fumes and then cut a large hole in the wall between his apartment and the one next door at a complex on Muddy Gap Road in Manchester.
‘Huffing’ problem leads man to break in OfficeMax twice in one morning (AK): Juneau resident doesn’t remember either crime, charged with burglary.
Inhalant deaths still a real, local concern (GA): The Chatham County Coroner is shining a light on a forgotten problem: deaths caused by using inhalants, which are found on store shelves everywhere.
Other traffic accidents caused by VSA were reported in IN and TX while other VSA-associated arrests took place in FL, MI, NJ, NY and WI.
AUSTRALIA
Second Townsville teen dies from chroming (QLD): Police say the dangerous practice of chroming is on the rise in Townsville, with two teens dying in just over a week.
Sustained reduction in petrol sniffing after low aromatic fuel rollout: The rollout of low aromatic fuel has contributed to significant and sustained reduction in petrol sniffing and associated health problems in Indigenous communities, studies have found.
NT govt pledges nearly $1m for youth rehab: [This includes] $350,000 towards four full time volatile substance abuse workers in the East Arnhem region to support Miwatj community-based work to reduce and prevent harmful sniffing.
Confirmed cases of aviation fuel sniffing in West Arnhem Land: Today Jim Rogers, the regional Chief Executive from the Department of the Chief Minister confirmed that aviation fuel sniffing had reached the community of Gunbalanya.
No culture other than sex, drugs and alcohol: A group of young girls captured chroming on CCTV. Their faces have been blurred due to their young age but they can be clearly seen clutching deodorant cans, with one girls using a cloth to inhale the volatile substance.
INDIA
Substance abuse among street children in India - A drugged reality: The national capital, which also happens to be a capital for increasing drug abuse amongst children especially amongst street children, sees numerous deaths every day owing to volatile substance abuse.
More children falling prey in Jagtial (Telangana): A recent incident where about 20 fifth class students of Jagtial district caught inhaling fevicol and whitener shows the gravity of the situation of both urban and rural children getting addicted to these vices.
PHILIPPINES
Rugby kids: Lea Japson, head of Cebu City’s Department of Social Welfare and Services... told SunStar Cebu that the continued proliferation of solvent abuse alarms her.
THAILAND
Man arrested after ‘powerful’ temple statues attacked: A Buri Ram man believed to be delusional from sniffing glue was arrested on Thursday night after allegedly smashing statues at Wat Sawang Arom.
UK
'Hippy crack' nitrous oxide IS an illegal drug - but only when it's being used to get high, rule senior judges: The party drug known as hippy crack is not a 'medicinal product' and is illegal, senior judges ruled today.
Dundee man, 30, caused alarm by inhaling gas: [He] admitted that on February 27, at Murraygate, he behaved in a threatening or abusive manner likely to cause fear or alarm, repeatedly inhaled gas from a gas canister and refused to desist, causing members of the public alarm.
Inmate collapses after inhaling nitrous oxide with other prisoners: Footage appearing to show inmates inside a UK prison inhaling nitrous oxide, street name 'hippy crack.
‘Toxic Terry’ inspires band: The recovery journey of a man who was once Preston’s most notorious vagrant has inspired a local band to write and record a song in the hope of raising cash for addiction charities.
Blow-by-blow: Celebrity Big Brother star Calum Best filmed ‘inhaling from a balloon’ on wild night out in London
ICELAND
How one country persuaded teens to give up drink and drugs: Iceland used to have a big teenage smoking, drinking and drug problem. Now it doesn't.
USA
‘Very deadly’: Utah woman loses daughter to compressed air addiction (UT): Last June, at age 26, she relapsed from an addiction to air duster, compressed chemicals used to clean computer equipment. She’d been struggling with the addiction for years.
Huffing case was difficult to prosecute, but why? (FL): Last week, he was convicted of huffing a can of Endust, getting behind the wheel of a vehicle and ultimately killing an East Hill woman.
Courtroom drama in Paoli teen case (OK): A detailed description of a night of huffing canned air was followed by heavy tears from one witness in a courtroom drama unfolding for a Paoli teenager facing a first-degree manslaughter charge.
Testimony begins in trial of man accused of child sex abuse (TX): In the interview, Sturgis admits to huffing but denies doing it around children.
Rexburg driver huffed compressed air before crash that injured 4 (ID): The driver of a vehicle who crashed into a light pole, injuring himself and three passengers, huffed compressed air from an air duster can moments before the wreck.
Man huffing gas cuts hole in Clay County apartment building (KY): According to police, England got high on gas fumes and then cut a large hole in the wall between his apartment and the one next door at a complex on Muddy Gap Road in Manchester.
‘Huffing’ problem leads man to break in OfficeMax twice in one morning (AK): Juneau resident doesn’t remember either crime, charged with burglary.
Inhalant deaths still a real, local concern (GA): The Chatham County Coroner is shining a light on a forgotten problem: deaths caused by using inhalants, which are found on store shelves everywhere.
Other traffic accidents caused by VSA were reported in IN and TX while other VSA-associated arrests took place in FL, MI, NJ, NY and WI.
AUSTRALIA
Second Townsville teen dies from chroming (QLD): Police say the dangerous practice of chroming is on the rise in Townsville, with two teens dying in just over a week.
Sustained reduction in petrol sniffing after low aromatic fuel rollout: The rollout of low aromatic fuel has contributed to significant and sustained reduction in petrol sniffing and associated health problems in Indigenous communities, studies have found.
NT govt pledges nearly $1m for youth rehab: [This includes] $350,000 towards four full time volatile substance abuse workers in the East Arnhem region to support Miwatj community-based work to reduce and prevent harmful sniffing.
Confirmed cases of aviation fuel sniffing in West Arnhem Land: Today Jim Rogers, the regional Chief Executive from the Department of the Chief Minister confirmed that aviation fuel sniffing had reached the community of Gunbalanya.
No culture other than sex, drugs and alcohol: A group of young girls captured chroming on CCTV. Their faces have been blurred due to their young age but they can be clearly seen clutching deodorant cans, with one girls using a cloth to inhale the volatile substance.
INDIA
Substance abuse among street children in India - A drugged reality: The national capital, which also happens to be a capital for increasing drug abuse amongst children especially amongst street children, sees numerous deaths every day owing to volatile substance abuse.
More children falling prey in Jagtial (Telangana): A recent incident where about 20 fifth class students of Jagtial district caught inhaling fevicol and whitener shows the gravity of the situation of both urban and rural children getting addicted to these vices.
PHILIPPINES
Rugby kids: Lea Japson, head of Cebu City’s Department of Social Welfare and Services... told SunStar Cebu that the continued proliferation of solvent abuse alarms her.
THAILAND
Man arrested after ‘powerful’ temple statues attacked: A Buri Ram man believed to be delusional from sniffing glue was arrested on Thursday night after allegedly smashing statues at Wat Sawang Arom.
