BMJ Press Releases, Saturday 17 August 1996
Volume 313 No 7054

EMBARGOED 00.01 HRS 16 AUGUST 1996

Four out of ten teenagers have tried illegal drugs, says UK survey

[Drinking, smoking, and illicit drugs use among 15 and 1 6-year-olds in the United Kingdom]

Four out of ten teenagers have tried illegal drugs, according to one of the most detailed surveys ever conducted in the UK. The study of 7,722 pupils, aged 15 and 16, in 69 secondary schools across the UK is reported in this week's BMJ.

Almost all the pupils studied had drunk alcohol, a third had smoked cigarettes in the past 30 days and 42 per cent had at some time used illegal drugs, mainly cannabis. Use of cannabis was particularly high among smokers. The researchers from the University of Edinburgh also found that high levels of smoking were associated with poorer school performance. The levels of drug use were higher in Scotland than in the rest of the UK

Contact:

Dr Patrick Miller
Research fellow

Alcohol and Health Research Group
Dept of Psychiatry
University of Edinburgh
Edinburgh EH10 5HF

Tel: 0131 537 6680
Fax: 0131 537 6841
E-mail: P.MILLER@ed.dc.UK

or

Prof. Martin Plant
Director

Alcohol and Health Research Group

Tel: 0131 537 6759
Fax: 0131 537 6841

Designer drinks increase concern about drunkenness among Scottish schoolchildren

[Designer drinks and drunkenness amongst a sample of Scottish schoolchildren]

Levels of self-reported drunkenness among Scottish schoolchildren, particularly with new "designer" drinks like white cider and fruit wines, is cause for concern, claims a paper in this week's BMJ.

Researchers surveyed 758 pupils at five secondary schools in Dundee and found 66 per cent reported having consumed alcohol. By the first year of secondary school almost one in five (18.9 per cent) said they had been drunk on at least one occasion and by the age of 14 more than half of the schoolchildren (52.6 per cent) reported having been drunk. In all school years consumers of white ciders or fruit wines were significantly more likely to have been drunk, with the peak age for white ciders (Ice Dragon, TNT, white Lightening and Spectra white - many of which contain about eight per cent alcohol by volume) being 14, and fruit wines (such as Maddog 20/20, Flavours for Ravers and Fruits Unlimited - many of which contain about 13 per cent alcohol by volume), increased throughout the age range.

"Clearly, such drunkenness is not solely related to the new drinks, but the fact that relatively strong alcoholic drinks are now being marketed and being widely consumed by young people is a worrying development, given what we already know about the health consequences of such alcohol consumption. As sections of the alcohol industry are now marketing alcoholic lemonades, this development is likely to continue, say the authors.

Contact:

Dr Neil McKeganey
Director

Centre for Drug Misuse Research
University of Glasgow
Glasgow G12 8RT

Tel: 0141 357 0535
0141 339 8855 x 8423
Fax: 0141 339 5881

Advertising of well known cigarette brands encourages children to smoke

[Cigarette advertising and onset of smoking in children: questionnaire survey]

Cigarette advertising increases children's awareness of smoking and encourages them to take up the habit beginning with any cigarettes that are available and that they can afford, according to the results of a survey published in this week's BMJ.

It is widely accepted that cigarette advertising plays a part in children's decisions to smoke. The tobacco industry claims that it does not want children to smoke and that its advertising is intended to encourage brand switching in adults who already smoke. Other studies have shown that children are aware of cigarette advertising and some of it appeals to them more than it does to adults. Studies which have shown increased uptake of smoking in children who expressed awareness of cigarette brands or advertising have been viewed with reservation on the grounds that the wish to smoke might precede the awareness, rather than the reverse.

In this paper, which forms part of a wider study, researchers surveyed 1,450 schoolchildren, aged 11 and 12 years, by questionnaire to find out whether awareness of the most advertised brands was more likely than awareness of less advertised brands to precede the onset of smoking. They found awareness of certain brands of cigarettes was linked to an increased risk of the child taking up smoking, especially in girls. They conclude that awareness of the most advertised brands (eg Benson and Hedges and Silk Cut which were the most advertised brands during the period of the study) was a strong and influential factor in whether children went on to smoke or not.

Contact:

Dr Anne Charlton
Director

CRC Education and Child Studies Research Group

School of Epidemiology and Health Sciences
University of Manchester
Manchester M13 9PT

Tel: 0161 275 5198
Fax: 0161 275 5612
E-mail: Anne.Charlton@man.ac.uk

Tobacco sponsorship of cricket matches does have significant effect

[Effect of sports sponsorship by tobacco companies on children's experimentation with tobacco]

Another report in this week's BMJ concludes that sponsorship by tobacco companies during the India - New Zealand cricket series in 1995 did have a significant effect on children watching.

The study of 1,948 children, aged 11-18 in Goa, found that watching the matches created a wrong perception in the children's minds that smoking gives more strength, improves batting and fielding and ultimately increases the chance of winning. Many thought that at least one cricketer in the Indian team smoked, although no player actually did. The children who developed these perceptions after watching the matches were three to ten times more likely to experiment with tobacco. The effect was similar in both boys and girls. Nearly 80 per cent of children knew that tobacco was as addictive as heroin and that smoking would reduce life-span. Although this knowledge did reduce children's experimentation with tobacco, the false perceptions created in children's minds by sports sponsorship overshadowed that knowledge and induced them to experiment with cigarettes. This study makes a strong case for banning sports sponsorship by tobacco companies.

Contact:

Dr Jayant Vaidya

Academic Dept of Surgery
Royal Marsden Hospital
London SW3 6JJ

Tel: 0171 352 8171
Fax: 0171 351 5410

or via

Dr Sharad Vaidya

Goa Cancer Society

Denis Apartments
Lake View Colony
Miramar
Panaji,
Goa 403001
India

Tel: 00 91 832 224066
00 91 832 223526
00 91 832 225648
Fax: 00 91 832 223898

There is also an accompanying editorial which summarises the above four papers.

Ecstasy users and the dangers of ketamine

[Letter. Ecstasy and neurodegeneration. Ketamine]

A letter in this week's BMJ warns of the potential dangers of ecstasy users being targeted with tablets containing ketamine - an anaesthetic agent with a rapid action used in medicine and veterinary medicine. Drug users who have taken ketamine illicitly say that it induces a profound change in consciousness which involves a feeling of dissociation from the body and visual hallucinations. Medical evidence on the potential toxic and neurodegenerative risks of ecstasy have already been publicised but here the authors warn of psychological distress or accidents that could occur due to lack of physical control to users of ketamine, particularly those new to the drug, those who take it unwittingly, or if it is taken in a club. Since 1993 police seizures of ketamine have increased considerably, and although the authors point out that ecstasy has never been found mixed with ketamine, illicit manufacturers seem likely to try and target the ecstasy users market.

Contact:

David Shewan
Lecturer in psychology

or

Phil Dalgarno
Research associate

Dept. of Psychology
Glasgow Caledonian University
Glasgow G4 0BA

Tel: 0141 331 3488
Fax: 0141 331 3636

Issued by: Public Affairs Division, British Medical Association, BMA House, Tavistock Square, London, WC1H 9JP Telephone: 0171 383 6254, (between 08.30 - 18.00), (After 6pm & at weekends): 01895 23 96 87, 01491 65 14 05, 01483 42 77 93

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