Pubdate: Dec 21, 1998 Source: The Guardian Weekly (London) Contact: Guardian Publications 1998 Author: Stephen Bates UK News BRITISH YOUTH'S DRUG ABUSE 'HIGHEST IN EUROPE' LEVELS of recorded drug abuse in Britain are up to five times higher among teenagers and young adults than in other European countries, a survey published last week reveals. The report by the Lisbon-based European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction, based on official statistics gathered by EU member states, shows that the proportion of British teenagers and adults in their 20s taking a range of drugs, including cannabis, amphetamines, cocaine and Ecstasy, are at much higher levels than in states such as France and Germany. The figures indicate that whereas 36 per cent of Britons in that age range took cannabis, comparable figures for France were 25.7 per cent, Germany 21 per cent and Spain 22 per cent. Only Denmark, from a much smaller survey, records similar figures to Britain's. For cocaine, only Spain beat the British figure of 4 per cent. Nine per cent of young Britons were reported to have experimented with Ecstasy, compared with just 2.8per cent in Germany and 1per cent in Sweden and Belgium. The report says that even allowing for differences in the size, date and age range of the national surveys, the UK returns are significantly higher than those of other countries. It adds: "Recent cannabis use [last 12 months] is reported by 1 to 9 per cent of the adult population, depending on the country; Finland, Sweden and eastern Germany present the lowest rates, and Spain and the UK the highest. "Recent use is higher among young adults, in most countries between 3 and 10 per cent although reaching 20 per cent in the UK." The report also records disturbing rises in the use of illegal drugs in eastern European countries, where the authorities have disproportionately fewer resources to deal with the problem.Researchers found that seizures of cannabis in EU states had levelled out since 1994, after quadrupling in the previous decade, while there are also signs that Ecstasy use may have levelled off. The use of heroin and cocaine is still on the increase. - --- Checked-by: Rolf Ernst