Background to the Research

• The adult population perceives an increased risk of young people being offered and using illicit drugs, alcohol and cigarettes. This risk is felt to be greater than that currently quantified by the range of local statutory agencies. In order to explore these issues the author surveyed a sample of secondary school children in the Omagh district.

Research Approach

• A self-administered questionnaire was given to secondary school pupils - 2 year groups, Year 9 (2nd year) and Year 12 (5th year) - a total of 1,670 pupils in all.
• Usable responses amounted to 1,446 (response rate 86.6%).
  

Main Findings

• The year 9 sample consisted of 50% girls and 50% boys and the year 12 sample of 57% girls and 43% boys, each year accounting for 50% of the sample.
• Of the sample, 42% lived in Omagh town, 13% in outlying villages and 45% in the countryside.
• Eighty-eight percent lived with two parents and 8% with their mother only.
• Ten percent attended religious services more than once a week and 70% attended once a week.
• Twenty-seven percent of young people had a part-time job. Five percent had less than £1 per week of spending money, 34% less than £5 per week, 31% between £5-£10 per week, 19% between £10-£20 per week and 10% had more than £20 per week.
• Of the total sample, 52% had tried smoking, but only 20% considered themselves current smokers. Of these 22% of the boys smoked and 19% of the girls smoked. Forty percent of the smokers smoke at least once a week and 9% smoke daily. Of those who smoke, 42% would like to give up, 48% are not sure and 10% did not want to give up.
• Fifty-seven percent of the total sample said they had drunk a full glass of alcohol and 43% said they had not. Thirty-two percent (442) had drunk alcohol once/twice, 15% drink on special occasions (215), 18% drink once/twice a month (255) and 10% drink once a week (136).
• More boys than girls drink and more Year 12 pupils drink than Year 9 pupils. The preferred beverage was beer with 23% drinking it, followed by spirits (18%). Most respondents drank with friends (74%), followed by 72% at clubs/discos and 66% at parties.
• Forty-four percent of respondents had never been drunk, 20% had been drunk once, 16% had been drunk 2 or 3 times, 10% 4-10 times and 9% had been drunk more than 10 times.
• Not more than 25% of any group had been offered drugs; of the Year 12 respondents, 42% had been offered drugs. Of the 319 young people who had tried drugs, 69 had tried cannabis, the same number had tried glue/solvents, 46 Poopers, 25 LSD, 21 Magic Mushrooms, 21 Amphetamines, 20 Ecstasy, 18 Cocaine, 13 Crack, 9 Tranquillisers and 8 Heroin.
• Drug use within the previous month showed that 182 had used drugs, 42 had used glue/solvents, 33 Cannabis, 22 Poppers, 22 Magic Mushrooms, 16 LSD, 12 Cocaine, 11 Ecstasy, 8 Crack, 8 Amphetamines, 6 Tranquillisers and 3 Heroin.
• The age range when a significant number of young people first tried drugs was the 11-12 year old group - the first year of secondary school, there was also a big increase in experimentation at 15 years.
• Nine respondents said they had been in trouble with their parents over their drug use, 5 had been in trouble with the RUC and 6 reported problems at school. Nineteen young people reported feeling sick after taking drugs, 33 said they had suffered from adverse mental effects and 9 thought they needed help in relation to their drug use.
• The most popular reason given for taking drugs was 'curiosity' (79%), followed by 'for fun' (76%). Seventy-one percent said they tried it 'because their friends used it' and 70% said they 'wanted to get high'.

Conclusions

• The rate and range of substance misuse in the Omagh district amongst secondary pupils is greater than that which is referred to the statutory agencies. All indicators suggest that substance misuse is a growing problem.
• Services offering advice and counselling in relation to substance misuse need to be made more accessible and user friendly to young people in an attempt to encourage them to use these services. Posters and leaflets should be in places where young people are likely to see them. Drug misuse advice services should be made available on a regular basis at local drop-in centres and/or youth clubs.