Blasé attitude of our youth towards drugs is worrying

Study reveals hedonism in Irish young people is increasing at an alarming rate compared to the rest of Europe

Attitudes towards drugs and alcohol were quite lax

Patricia Casey

The recent story about the Irish girl in Magaluf who gave oral sex to 24 young men in public in return for a drink, threw a horrifying light on the level of decadence of our young people and its relationship to alcohol and other substances. To add to the image of our young people as self-indulgent, there is further evidence from a Eurobarometer study, recently published by the European Commission. The Europe-wide study examined attitudes to and usage of various drugs, licit and illicit, among more than 13,000 young people, aged 15-24.

It found that 56pc of the Irish sample supported the legalisation of cannabis compared to the EU average of 45pc. Irish youngsters were more than twice as likely to have smoked cannabis in the past 30 days when compared with the European average, with 16pc of those in Ireland reporting that they had used cannabis compared with the average across Europe of 7pc.

Attitudes to alcohol were also much more lax. Only 42pc believed that regular alcohol intake was dangerous. This was well below the European average of 57pc. A glimmer of hope was provided by the increase of 11pc from the last survey in 2011 expressing this view, in the Irish sample and among Europeans in general.

With respect to class A drugs, such as heroin and cocaine, support for a continuing ban was near universal with 91pc and 93pc of the Irish sample supporting this, compared to 93pc and 96pc respectively in the rest of Europe. Only with respect to tobacco was the Irish sample more conservative with 23pc supporting a complete ban compared to 16pc in the rest of Europe.

The survey found that almost three times as many Irish youths used "legal highs" when compared to their European counterparts. Of those surveyed, 22pc said they had used 'designer drugs' in the month before the survey compared with an EU average of 8pc.

Designer drugs are substances that are designed to replicate the effects of psychoactive substances such as cocaine, amphetamine and ecstasy, or performance enhancing drugs such as steroids (used to build muscles). Slight modifications to their chemical structure means they avoid detection in standard tests. They are designed to take advantage of loopholes in the legislation governing controlled drugs until such time as changes are enacted. Almost 300 new drugs have been identified in the past four years - mephedrone is perhaps the best known in Ireland. Their effects are often unpredictable and deaths have been reported.

The findings of this survey raise worrying questions. The most pertinent is why, in relation to alcohol, designer drugs and cannabis, our attitudes and behaviours are so different from those of similar-aged youngsters throughout Europe. These drugs are destructive to individuals and to society, yet significantly, greater proportions of our young people seem to disregard these concerns.

It is telling that Amsterdam, once the cannabis tourist centre of the world, has been gradually imposing restrictions on its sale in cafés. Sweden, the country seen by many in Ireland as a bastion of tolerance, has zero-tolerance for cannabis use. The picture painted by this survey is one of high levels of disregard for the recognised dangers of illicit substances. Personal choice, even to be destructive, seems to be the metier as caution is thrown to the wind and significant numbers experiment. Why is restraint such a problem for Irish young people compared to those of similar age in the rest of Europe? Are our young people so atomised that the concerns of society at large can be disregarded and that personal freedom and choice overrides all else?

One positive feature emerging in this report is the attitude of young people to tobacco. It is likely that the smoking ban, reinforced by the constant message that smoking in public is damaging to the individual and to others, is having an impact. Perhaps the time has come for a campaign to highlight the dangers of other substances to the individual and to society. The problem is that our attitude to cannabis is one of ambivalence, while alcohol is part our culture and draws tourists in enormous numbers. Legal highs are no longer discussed since legislation was enacted a few years ago to ban the 'head shops', which were the outlets for their sale. The shops may have gone but the products have not, and youngsters continue to present to our emergency departments experiencing adverse physical and psychiatric reactions.

We need to have a campaign highlighting the dangers of a range of substances and this should be ongoing.

We also need to convince ourselves, and our young people, that concern for society, for the common good, is not something paternalistic and outdated. The welfare of others should outweigh any choices with regard to our own behaviour, because where psychoactive substances are concerned, illness, death and social mayhem will follow.