Question

Teenagers and Drugs
Two separate surveys suggest that Britain’s teenagers are amongst the heaviest drug-users and drinkers in Europe. The British government has introduced a number of measures to tackle the use and supplies of drugs, particularly among young people.
The European School Survey Project on Alcohol and Other Drugs interviewed 15 and 16-year olds in 35 countries. 26 % of boys and 29 % of girls in the UK had indulged in binge drinking at last three times in the previous month. For the purpose of the study, binge drinking was classed as having more than five alcoholic drinks in a row. In the same survey, 42 % of boys and 35 % of girls admitted they had tried illegal drugs at least once.
According to another survey, by European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction, two in five 15-year olds in the UK have tried cannabis. This number is higher than anywhere else in Europe. The UK has also the joint highest number of young cocaine users, alongside Spain .
The British government has recently unveiled new plans to fight the problem of drug abuse in the United Kingdom, also among teenagers. According to the new proposals, young offenders will have to attend drug treatment as part of community service. British police will be able to give people blood tests for drugs when they arrest them, not just when they charge them with an offence. Dealers working near a school or using children to help sell drugs will face tougher penalties.
But schools also try to fight the problems of drug use themselves. At the beginning 2005 a British state school has introduced for the first time random drug testing. Students from a school in Kent will have mouth swabs taken to detect drug use. Each week 20 names will be selected by computer and the swabs sent off to a drug testing laboratory. Results will be available three days later. The school’s head teacher says that no child will be tested against his or her wishes. Children who test positive will not be expelled from school, but those who sell drugs will.
Bad habits
Bad habits Reasons “Pleasure” Results
Smoking
Alcohol
Drugs
Other bad habits