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domenica 18 maggio 2014

Cocaine, marijuana favourites for teen drug-users

2013 study finds more than 600,000 youngster used cocaine, pot



(ANSA) - Rome, May 16 - Cocaine and cannabis were the illegal drugs of choice last year for Italian teenagers, with more than 600,000 admitting to using the substances in 2013, according to a survey released Friday
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The study by the National Research Council (CNR) in Pisa found that heroin was also becoming more popular while an increasing number of teens were mixing illegal substances to experiment with different effects, which posed serious health risks. The results are part of the European School Survey Project on Alcohol and Other Drugs (ESPAD) conducted by the CNR which interviewed 45,000 students in 516 high schools all over Italy.

It earlier reported that the average teenager heroin smoker in Italy starts at 14. It also found overall cannabis use picked up in 2013, with 25% of respondents saying they smoked it in the past year, 16% saying they did so in the previous 30 days, and one in five, or 75,000 teens, saying they smoke it more than 20 times a month. Three in 10 said they tried it at least once, 61% said they used it not more than 10 times a year, and another 27% said they smoked marijuana 20 or more times a year. Among legal substances, alcohol use was also on the rise in Italy last year, although there was less abuse reported when compared with other European teenagers.

Italians were less likely to binge on alcohol or drink between meals, and less likely to become drunk, the study said. Still, 35%, or 850,000 Italian students, reported binge drinking at least once in the prior month, with 14% of these saying they indulged to excess six or more times in the same period. The survey also found that a trend towards increased gambling stopped in 2008 and since then, interest has declined. 

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