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The research took the form of a self-report questionnaire distributed among 1,000 young people (aged 14-18) in 12 Belfast schools, four Belfast-based youth and community organisations, and a comparison sample of three schools in predominantly rural areas of Northern Ireland (to generate a comparison sample).¹

The study claimed to be the first ever undertaken in Northern Ireland to examine the following:

• young people's offending patterns;
• their levels of 'ordinary' criminal;
• sectarian victimisation;
• their experiences of, and attitudes to, the RUC (now PSNI);
• their levels of drug and alcohol consumption;
• their routine activities;
• their management of risk.

The main focus was on young people as offenders rather than victims. The core sample, 815, came from the Belfast urban area.

The main findings of the section on drugs include:

• Cannabis is by far the most popular drug consumed, with almost half the sample (43.5%) admitting to one-time trying, and almost one-quarter (23.6%) admitting to regular consumption.
• The next most common drugs or substances are amyl nitrite or poppers (23.6%), Ecstasy (16.5%), inhaling glues, gas or aerosols (15.7%) and tranquillisers such as Temazepam (13.2%).
• Differences in the consumption of drugs and other substances are particularly striking between the urban and rural cohorts, with young people in the country/town admitting to lower levels of consumption than their Belfast counterparts.
• Young males are more likely to have experimented with drugs or other substances than young females, and are also more likely to admit to regular patterns of consumption. The use of particularly risky substances is concentrated in the 14-15 year old cohort.
• The consumption of psychoactive drugs is spread throughout all social classes and socioeconomic categories. However, young people from all areas of socioeconomic disadvantage are more likely than young people from affluent areas to have tried inhalants and tranquillisers, and also to use them regularly.
• One worrying trend indicates the higher proportions of young people from socioeconomically disadvantaged areas who admit to inhaling glue, gas, or aerosols and who have higher levels of tranquilliser consumption.

To obtain an online version of this report go to:
www.esrcsocietytoday.ac.uk

Reference

1. Ellison G. Young people: crime, policing and victimisation in Northern Ireland. Belfast: Queen's University Belfast, 2001.