The Health Behaviour of School Children in Northern Ireland survey, 1994

In this survey, 1,390 first formers, 1,390 third formers and 1,150 fifth formers were asked, among other health-related issues, about their experience of illicit drugs.¹

Main findings

The main findings showed that:

23.4% of the sample reported being offered drugs;
less than 6% of first formers had been offered drugs;
25% of third formers had been offered drugs;
42% of fifth formers had been offered drugs;
13.3% of the sample reported using illicit drugs at least once;
less than 3% of the first formers had used drugs or solvents;
14% of third formers had used drugs or solvents;
26% of fifth formers had used drugs or solvents.

Current use of drugs or solvents

	Drug use			Solvent use
Frequency	N	% of users (N=302)	% of sample	N	% of users (N=131)	% of sample
Never	3,599		91.5	3,747		95.3
Less than yearly	67	22.2	1.7	46	35.2	1.2
1-5 times yearly	57	18.9	1.4	27	20.6	0.7
6-10 times yearly	26	8.6	0.7	20	15.3	0.5
At least monthly	79	26.1	2.0	17	13.0	0.4
At least weekly	58	19.2	1.5	13	9.9	0.3
Most days	15	5.0	0.3	8	6.1	0.2
No answer	31		0.8	54		1.4
Total	3,932		99.9	3,932		100

The illicit drug most commonly reported being offered and used was cannabis. This was followed by LSD, Ecstasy, amphetamines, poppers and solvents.

Drugs offered to pupils (as described by the person who made the offer)

Drugs	N	% of all pupils	% of those who had been offered drugs
Cannabis	291	7.4	31.6
LSD	228	5.8	24.8
Ecstasy	127	3.2	13.8
Poppers (amyl nitrate)	73	1.9	7.9
Cocaine	60	1.5	6.5
Speed (amphetamine sulphate)	28	0.7	3.0
Glue	7	0.2	0.8
Magic mushrooms	6	0.2	0.7
Heroin	3	0.1	0.3
Aerosols	1	-	0.1
Anything I wanted	3	-	0.3
Dont know	46	1.2	5.0
Forget	2	-	0.2
Tobacco	2	-	0.2
Steroids	2	-	0.2
No answer	42	1.1	4.6
Total	921	23.3	100

Drugs used

Drugs	N	% of drug users (422)	% of sample (3,932)
Cannabis	296	70.1	7.5
LSD	203	48.1	5.2
Ecstasy	89	21.0	2.3
Poppers (amyl nitrate)	85	20.1	2.2
Speed (amphetamine sulphate)	52	12.3	1.2
Magic mushrooms	28	6.6	0.7
Cocaine	13	3.1	0.3
Heroin	5	1.2	0.1
Tranquillisers	2	0.5	-
Other	5	1.1	0.1

Solvents used

Solvents	N	% of solvent users (292)	% of sample (3,932)
Glue	103	35	2.6
Correcting fluid/thinners	115	39	2.9
Gas lighter fuel	95	32	2.4
Other aerosols	64	22	1.6
Petrol	35	12	0.9
Other	37	14	0.9
Dont know	4	-	-

The table above shows the continuing use of the four main solvent types, ie correcting fluid/thinners, glue, gas lighter fuel and other aerosols.

Current use of illicit substances by form and gender

	% Boys			% Girls			All
Form	1	3	5	1	3	5	All
Have never used	95.5	82.9	73.6	98.4	88.9	76.7	86.1
Never use now	2.4	5.6	5.8	0.6	4.6	8.6	4.4
Use drugs only	0.6	5.5	15.6	0.3	3.3	10.7	5.6
Solvents only	0.9	2.0	1.4	0.6	1.3	0.9	1.2
Use both	0.6	4.0	3.7	0.1	1.8	3.1	2.2
Current users	2.1	11.5	20.7	1.0	6.4	14.7	9.0

The research shows that 18% of fifth form pupils, 9% of third form pupils and 1.6% of first form pupils currently use drugs and/or solvents.

Reference

Health Promotion Agency for Northern Ireland. Health Behaviour of School Children in Northern Ireland. A report on the 1994 survey. Belfast: HPANI, 1995.

PDF version