4.3 Tobacco and alcohol use among young people

Tobacco use
Alcohol use
Where do young people drink?
What do young people drink?
Reflection

Tobacco use

Males and females of all ages have similar patterns of tobacco use (see Figure 2).

Figure 2: Tobacco use, 14-29-year-olds 2001 (percent)

(Source: National Drug Strategy Household Survey, 2001.)
^a Never smoked more than 100 cigarettes or the equivalent amount of tobacco.
^b Ex-smoker: smoked at least 100 cigarettes (manufactured and/or roll your own) or the equivalent tobacco in their life, but reported no longer smoking.

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Text version of Figure 2

Figures in this description are approximate as they have been read from the graph.

	14-19 year olds %	20-29 year olds %
Males - never smoked a full cigarettea	76	51
Females - never smoked a full cigarettea	76	51
Males - ex smokersb	4	12
Females - ex smokersb	4	18
Males - weekly	2	3
Females - weekly	2	2
Males - daily	14	28
Females - daily	17	24

Alcohol use

Significant numbers of young people consume alcohol on a regular basis, with females consuming less than males (see Figure 3).

Men of all ages drink more alcohol than women. However, young people drink significantly more than the general population.

Figure 3: Alcohol use, 14-29-year-olds, 2001 (percent)

(Source: National Drug Strategy Household Survey, 2001.)

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Text version of Figure 3

Figures in this description are approximate as they have been read from the graph.

	14-19 year olds %	20-29 year olds %
Males - Never consumed a full glass	22	4
Females - Never consumed a full glass	22	4
Males - ?	4	2
Females - ?	3	4
Males - Occasional, less than weekly	41	32
Femals - Occasional, less than weekly	48	46
Males - ?	1	4
Females - ?	1	2

Figure 4: Amount of alcohol usually consumed: proportion of recent drinkers aged 14-29 years, by age and sex, compared to all ages

Text version of Figure 4

Figures in this description are approximate as they have been read from the graph.

	Males %	Females %
Low risk	28	14
Low to medium risk	29	15
Medium to high risk	42	27
High risk	44	28

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Figure 5: Consumption by age and sex

(Source: National Drug Strategy Household Survey, 2001.)

Text version of Figure 5

Figures in this description are approximate as they have been read from the graph.

	Males %	Females %
14-19 years - Abstainee	27	26
20-29 years - Abstainee	64	12
14-19 years - Low	6	10
20-29 years - Low	2	4
14-19 years - Risky	8	60
20-29 years - Risky	77	74
14-19 years - High risk	9	10
20-29 years - High risk	3	3

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Where do young people drink?

Task - writing exercise

Question - What are the most likely places for young people to consume alcohol?

Answer - (Write your answer, then check the possible answers page.)

What do young people drink?

Young men (14-18-year-olds) drink mainly beer and spirits, whilst young women drink a high proportion of pre-mixed drinks such as UDL, coolers and spirits. Young people tend not to drink wine.

Reflection

Task - writing exercise

Question - Do the facts and figures presented in the tables and graphs in this section fit with your experience of working with young people in your area? What similarities exist? What differences can you identify and why might these differences exist?

Question - Many of the statistics indicate that young women are catching up with young men in their use of cigarettes and alcohol. Is this reflected in your work with young people? Can you suggest some reasons why this might be happening?

Question - Over the past 10 years the level of advertising for alcohol and cigarettes has been greatly reduced. Does advertising still have a significant effect on young people? Why?

Brainstorm exercise

Once you have written down your responses discuss them with your colleagues or in a group.