1. World Drug Report 2009 In its own words

2. Why Young People Matter Analysing drug use among young people matters for several key reasons. First, most people start to use drugs during their youth and it is among young people that drug prevention activities are best targeted. Secondly, trends in the use of illicit drugs among young people may indicate shifts in drug markets, since young people usually react to changes in drug availability or social perceptions about drug use more quickly than older people; such use is likely to be occasional drug use. Thirdly, starting drug use at an early age has been linked to negative health and social outcomes in later years.

3. Gender Data on young people can help to better understand the different use of illicit drugs among male and female populations. In general girls are less likely to use drugs than boys, although the gender disparities are less pronounced than among the adult population.

4. School Surveys Most of the data on the use of illicit drugs among young people has been collected through school surveys. These surveys are important tools and can be implemented in a relatively cost-effective environment since large numbers of young people are easily accessible and usually ready to participate in the survey. They have also been found to be accurate, if properly implemented. However, they do not capture the situation among out-of-school youth, which may be a significant proportion of youth in less developed countries.

5. Cannabis

7. Cannabis and Older Young People In the UK, which used to be Europe’s largest cannabis market, a clear downward trend has been observed in recent years... The decline among youth started several years before the decline among the general population. In fact, annual prevalence of cannabis use among people aged 16-24 fell from 28.2% in 1998 to 17.9% in 2007/08, a decline of 37% over the last decade.

8. Cocaine