Citation

Ogilvie D, Gruer L, Haw S. Br. Med. J. BMJ 2005; 331(7513): 393-396.

Affiliation

MRC Social and Public Health Sciences Unit, University of Glasgow, Glasgow G12 8RZ. d.ogilvie@msoc.mrc.gla.ac.uk

Copyright

(Copyright © 2005, BMJ Publishing Group)

DOI

10.1136/bmj.331.7513.393

PMID

16096309

PMCID

PMC1184256

Abstract

Young people's use of tobacco, alcohol, and other drugs causes concern. Early use of psychoactive substances can be harmful to health in the short termâ??for example, through injuries sustained or inflicted while intoxicatedâ??and can lead to lasting patterns of consumption that increase the risk of many chronic diseases and social problems. Recent concern in the United Kingdom has focused on issues such as continued high levels of smoking by young women, binge drinking and associated antisocial behaviour by young people in general, and higher levels of cannabis use in adolescents than in most European countries. One potential approach to reducing the use of psychoactive substances in young people is to control their availability, but public policy in this area has tended to tackle tobacco, alcohol, or illicit drugs in isolation and is not necessarily based on evidence about what works.