Almost Adult, 1994

This research took place in 1994 and was carried out among 1,214 young people aged between 16 and 17 in post-primary schools (sixth form), further education (FE) colleges and on training schemes (YTS). In respect of drug-related behaviour, the sample size was 1,168 (drug sample).¹

Main findings

The main findings were:

Almost two thirds of the drug sample had been offered drugs.
Over 40% of these respondents had used drugs, and two thirds of those reported the current use of such substances.
One in eight of the drug sample had used illicit drugs in the week before the survey.
The most likely drug to have been used was cannabis.

Being offered drugs

Sixty three percent of the drug sample reported being offered drugs and 44% reported they had been offered drugs more than once. Males were more likely than females to have been offered drugs.

Incidence of having been offered drugs - % in each group

Status	Had never been offered drugs	Was offered drugs once	Was offered drugs more than once
Sixth form students	36.1	16.6	47.4
FE college students	44	19.9	36.2
YTP trainees	32.9	17	50.1

The single most likely place to have been offered drugs was in the street, although more than 40% of first offers had been made at either a rave or a disco. Twenty nine percent of the drug sample had received their first offer from friends.

Location of first offer

Drugs were first offered	Number of people offered	% of sample	% of first offers
In the street	186	16	26
At a disco	169	14	24
At a rave	137	12	19
At a friend's house	98	8	14
At school	48	4	7
At a concert	10	1	2
Elsewhere (not coded)	60	5	8

Who made the first offer of drugs

Person who offered drugs to young people	Number of people offered drugs	% of sample	% of those who had been offered drugs
A friend	243	21	34
Unknown peer	153	13	21
An adult	152	12	21
School friend	96	8	14
Someone else	50	4	7
Relative	14	1	2

Experience of drugs

Just over 42% of the respondents reported the use of drugs or solvents. Twenty one percent had used drugs only, 2% had used solvents only and 19% had used both drugs and solvents. Thirty six percent of the 16 year olds and 43% of 17 year old sixth form pupils had used drugs.

Drug use by status

Drug Use	Pupil %	FE College %	YTP %
Had used solvents only	24	18.8	3.8
Had used drugs only	1.6	1.6	19.4
Had used both	16.4	13.3	25.1
Total	42	33.7	48.3

Current use of drugs and solvents

More than a quarter of respondents (28.6%) overall and two thirds of those who had ever used an illicit drug were still drug users. Twelve percent of the entire sample had used drugs in the week before the survey.

Current drug use by status

Drug Use	Sixth form student %	FE college student %	YTP trainee %
Uses drugs only	20.6	11.8	19.4
Uses solvents only	0.6	0.6	1.4
Uses both	6.8	7.1	14.5
Total	28	19.5	35.3

Reference

Craig J. Almost Adult. Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA) Occasional Paper No 3. Belfast: Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA), 1997.

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