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More Teens Receiving Help for Drug and Alcohol Problems in England

Record numbers of teenagers are receiving help for drug and alcohol problems, but the number of those undergoing counseling for heroin and crack use is falling, official figures show.

The Guardian UK reports that a total of 24,053 teens under age 18 in England were treated in 2008 to 2009, according to statistics from the NHS National Treatment Agency for Substance Misuse (NTA). This is 150 more teens than the previous year, suggesting that the demand for specialist services such as counseling and harm reduction is leveling off, said the NTA.

Almost nine in 10 of the teens got help for problems associated with their use of cannabis (12,642) or alcohol (8,799). However, the number of those getting help for their use of heroin or crack has fallen by about a third in the last four years. In 2005 to 2006 a total of 1,081 did so, but last year that number had fallen to 657. Those figures confirm the recent generational shift among those under 30 away from the two drugs.

Similarly, while the number of young people being helped with cocaine problems had risen from 453 in 2005 to 2006 to 806 in 2007 to 2008, it dropped to 746 last year. That constituted 6% of all teenagers who received help.

"Evidence continues to suggest that overall drug and alcohol use among the general population of young people is declining, and the increasing availability of specialist substance misuse services ensures that many more of the minority who do need help are getting it,” said the NTA.

Rosanna O'Connor, the NTA's director of delivery, said the reduction in the number of those getting help for heroin and crack was a further sign that the heroin epidemic which began in the 1980s may have peaked.

"Most young people receiving substance misuse interventions cannot be described as addicts in the same way as adults in treatment," O'Connor said. "Addiction is normally the result of regular, consistent use of substances over time; most under-18s who have problems have not pursued drug-taking long enough to result in dependency."

Norman Lamb, the Liberal Democrat health spokesman, said the number of teenagers getting help for cocaine misuse was worrying. "There is a real problem with young people receiving mixed messages because of the alleged glamour associated with drugs like cocaine."

John Mallalieu, director of substance misuse services at the charity Turning Point, welcomed the fall in this type of teenage drug user, but warned of the damage that alcohol misuse can bring.
"Our own findings show there is no conclusive answer as to why fewer young people are developing problems with heroin and crack but it seems they may now be more aware of the potential consequences of using these drugs," he said.

"While the message seems to have sunk in that heroin and crack are addictive and harmful, the fact more young people are drinking tells us similar messages for alcohol are not sinking in. In 2008 heroin was responsible for about 900 deaths, whereas alcohol was attributed to nearly 8,500."

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