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'Youngsters High On Excess'
Former Member
Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
Ok, well I've just been watching the ITN lunchtime news, and there was this large topic on how to deal with underage drinking, smoking, drug-taking etc amongst youngsters aged 11-15.
Basically, it was said that;
1 in 10 had used cannabis,
1 in 20 had used solvents,
1 in 10 are regular smokers (i.e. 40+ fags a week),
just under 25% regularly drink alcohol, boys being the majority,
10% of girls are smokers, compared to 7% of boys... etc etc.
Anyway, heres the story.
A lot of people phoned in, saying that there should be more legal action to prevent this, or that youngsters only do these things when they're bored...
Personally, being 15 myself, I think teenagers should be left to learn from their own personal experiences, just as a legal adult would. I've been drinking occasionally since I was 13, and I have smoked cannabis a couple of times (I've never touched a cigarette, harder drugs, etc), and I've learnt, through trial and error, how much is a sensible amount to take. I know just how much I can drink before I put myself in a vunerable state. I just pity the girls my age that drink themselves into stupor every weekend.
So, how does everyone think this epidemic should be handled?
Basically, it was said that;
1 in 10 had used cannabis,
1 in 20 had used solvents,
1 in 10 are regular smokers (i.e. 40+ fags a week),
just under 25% regularly drink alcohol, boys being the majority,
10% of girls are smokers, compared to 7% of boys... etc etc.
Anyway, heres the story.
A lot of people phoned in, saying that there should be more legal action to prevent this, or that youngsters only do these things when they're bored...
Personally, being 15 myself, I think teenagers should be left to learn from their own personal experiences, just as a legal adult would. I've been drinking occasionally since I was 13, and I have smoked cannabis a couple of times (I've never touched a cigarette, harder drugs, etc), and I've learnt, through trial and error, how much is a sensible amount to take. I know just how much I can drink before I put myself in a vunerable state. I just pity the girls my age that drink themselves into stupor every weekend.
So, how does everyone think this epidemic should be handled?
0
Comments
Secondly statistics like this are normally totally wrong, you ask a teenager how many drugs they take and quite often they will lie.
Out of the list the glue and the smoking tobacco are the ones we should be concerned about.
If we had something even close to decent in terms of drugs education we wouldnt have this situation.
:yes:
It worries me how many kids are still using solvents.
We caught my mates little brother lugging gas the other day. I have a very liberal veiw when it comes to drugs but solvents scare the shit out of me.
Solvents kill way more kids than alcohol, pills, speed and all that put together, its something horrific like over 100 a year.
Here it is, from Drugscope;
"The rise of ecstasy use has tended to relegate solvent use to the sidelines as far as the media is concerned and it may well be that sniffing solvents is less of a craze than it was a few years ago. However, between 70 and 100 young people are still dying from solvent sniffing every year; some of these fatalities will be first time sniffers"
http://www.drugscope.co.uk/druginfo/drugsearch/ds_results.asp?file=\wip\11\1\1\solvents.html
Them statistics don't sound too bad, refreshing actually. Teenagers will experiment, they'll do what the other kids do, those statistics aren't off the scale or nothing and are no real worry for concern.
Though I still wouldn't touch solvents.
Don't, very nasty and horribly addictive.
and as bong mentioned many of them are lying or exagerating so were getting closer to twenty out of twenty don't use.
it would be interesting to see how where and why this research was done.
Fair enough, thats how your life panned out, I smoked my first feg when I was 9 or 10, plus you're an outsider, you'll never know what the true craic is, ever! I'm sorry, you can empathise all you want but you'll never truly know my or my mates motivations full stop.
The drugs I have tried are as follows; cigarettes (so nicotine), alcohol, poppers (which had little effect on me), and the most stupidly tiny amount of weed ever. The only one which I really do regularly is cigarettes. I dislike alcohol, apart from alcopops, poppers just gave me a headache, and I don't really WANT to smoke weed again.
But then you have my twin sister, who comes in drunk pretty much every week at some point. She recently smashed her chin open and had to have stitches, but when she first did it, she didn't realise til someone told her. Her main objective when she goes out is to get as drunk as possible, which worries me.
Le sigh.
I swear when I have kids I'm gonna teach them about drugs myself.
So you only do things because you "need" to?
Addicts are a minority largely compensating for their own personal problems with drugs - most drug users are not addicts.
The difference between an 11 year old and a 15 year old renders this whole study pointless.
But we don't. And we won't. And the more they tell us not to, the more we wish to do so.
I think education in this area focuses too much on telling you not to, and not enough on showing you WHY you shouldn't. And if there is no real reason not to, then the truth shall be known.
Like my Tutor telling me not to smoke whilst smelling as though he had just gone through 10 packets at lunch?
Yeah, Hipocrasy will only make us think "what a fucking twat", instead of putting us off. Now, if hte teacher had a neart attack from it infront of us, that might be a different matter.
Thats a good point actually, seeing anyone who smokes a lot is enough to turn your stomach they just look so dam unwell.
From the statistics I heard on the radio about this they think cannabis smoking has actually slightly declined but that alcohol is up.
I smoke a lot and am hopelessly addicted but i don't think i look unwell. My diet is very good and i exercise on a semi-regular basis.
Come on now, pressing buttons on a remote control aint exercise!
Shit ;(.
I press them really hard though!
(many would disagree)
I meant long term smokers really, people who have been smoking 20 or more a day for years normally look like shite.
I think you're wrong man. I'm on 30 or so a day and have been for years now. My parents have been on the same for 30+ years. I don't think myself or either of them "look like shite". In fact my parents look a damn site better than a lot of people their age because they're concious of their diet and eat really well.
Fair enough, I'm just saying from my experience, people who smoke 30 a day for many years are rarely the healthiest of people are they.