POLICY & PRACTICE: Soapbox - Not all young people use drugs but all need guidance

The use of illegal drugs by young people has increased over the past 10 years and the age of first use has got younger. But by far the biggest problem is the misuse of alcohol: 56 per cent of 15 to 16-year-olds have drunk more than five drinks on a single occasion in the past 30 days, according to the 1999 European Schools' Survey Project. By comparison, in 2000, 29 per cent of 15-year-olds had used illegal drugs in the past year, according to the Department of Health.

The most commonly used illegal substance is cannabis. In 2000, 25 per cent of 16 to 19-year-olds had taken cannabis in the past year, six per cent amphetamine, five per cent ecstasy, four per cent cocaine and one per cent heroin and tranquillisers, according to the British Crime Survey 2000. The Government's announcement of reclassification last year led to a widely held erroneous belief that cannabis had been legalised. Yet we are still waiting for the Home Secretary's plans to be announced and the Association of Chief Police Officers has not produced its much-delayed guidelines for policing cannabis.