Tobacco, alcohol and cannabis use down among adolescents
20 May 2020
Par: chef-projet@dnf.asso.fr
Dernière mise à jour: 20 May 2020
Temps de lecture: 2 minutes
The ranking of French teenagers who consume tobacco, alcohol, and cannabis has fallen several places compared to 2014, reveals a report from the French Observatory for Drugs and Drug Addiction (OFDT).[1], published this Tuesday, May 19. This communication is based on the findings of the Health Behaviour in School-Aged Children (HBSC) survey[2] conducted in 2018 under the auspices of the World Health Organization (WHO). As adolescence is a crucial period in determining health behaviors, the WHO conducts this international survey every four years to monitor changes in psychoactive substance use and publish an overview of the well-being and health of young people in North America and Europe.
Through the EnCLASS survey, French adolescents in secondary school were asked about their consumption habits and/or attempts. While young French people occupied the top places in the ranking following the 2014 HBSC survey, the latter found, in 2018, that the levels of experimentation had decreased, going from: • 6.6% to 4.1% among 11-year-olds, • 24.5% to 14.0% among 13-year-olds, • 51.8% to 33% among 15-year-olds.
In addition, for 15-year-olds, the survey also looked at their usage during the previous month. Here again, a decline was observed between 2014 (26.5%) and 2018 (17.6%).
French adolescents aged 11 to 15 now occupy tenth place in the international rankings. The top spots are now occupied by Italy, Bulgaria, and Lithuania. England, Switzerland, Germany, and Wales record the highest prevalence rates.
While the survey results are encouraging and demonstrate positive changes in the habits of young French people, it is worth remembering that a third of adolescents experiment with cigarettes by the end of secondary school and that France is above the European average.
[2] https://www.drogues.gouv.fr/sites/drogues.gouv.fr/files/atoms/files/note-ofdt_hbsc_2020.pdf
