Any increase in drug use is a matter for concern but, by any standards, the report - subsequently repeated by other media - was alarmist and well over the top. Evidence of drug use remaining stable or falling is ignored: last year when the same survey revealed that fewer pupils were using drugs there was barely a flicker of interest. Sections of the media seem to have an obsession with cocaine - the fact that three times as many young people are at risk of inhaling volatile substances such as glue or aerosols goes unreported.
Countering sensationalism matters because drug use is not in fact "normal".
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