THE ESSENTIAL
- The practice of gambling has increased more among apprentices and young people who have dropped out of school or are employed between 2011 and 2017 than among school-going adolescents.
- In 2019, around 450,000 daily smokers in mainland France were not yet 18, which is the legal age for authorized purchase.
Chicha, classic or electronic cigarettes, drugs, alcohol… in 20 years, the responses of more than 200,000 17-year-old adolescents on these themes have been recorded as part of the first survey on health and behavior during the defense preparation call (ESCAPAD) started in 2000 by theFrench Observatory of Drugs and Addictive Tendencies (OFDT). Their report over the last twenty years has just been made public.
Increase in significant occasional alcoholism
First lesson, there has been a double trend concerning the relationship of adolescents to alcohol. On the one hand, the proportion of those who have never drunk it is increasing for various reasons: to preserve their health, religious or even philosophical considerations, changes in the behavior of parents who drink less than previous generations. On the other hand, there is a progression of significant occasional alcoholizations. They are generally perceived as harmless by adolescents when in reality they can have significant repercussions on the health of young people, in particular the development of their brains.
Smoking no longer appeals to teenagers
Good news: there are fewer and fewer cigarette smokers among teenagers. According to the report, “this dynamic appears to be sustainable due to the appearance of new generations who are increasingly abstinent, which might foreshadow a “disappearance” of smoking in adolescence in the years to come.”. Nevertheless, young people are now indulging in new practices such as electronic cigarettes or shisha… Practices that are difficult to quantify according to the OFDT because they cannot be counted in units per person, like alcohol or classic cigarettes. In its next work, the body wishes to take these practices into account.
More teenage cannabis users with problematic use
For cannabis, a double trend was also observed during this survey. On the one hand, there is a decline in the consumption of this narcotic among adolescents in general. But, since 2011, the proportion of those presenting a high risk of problematic use or dependence has increased. In detail, 7.4% of all 17-year-olds had a high risk of problematic cannabis use or dependence in 2018.
Other drugs down
“Experimentation with illicit substances other than cannabis is difficult to estimate with precision because they are generally not widespread among adolescents: 93% of adolescents have never taken them and will probably never take them.”, say the authors of this report.
Gambling and games of chance always popular with teenagers.
Another new practice studied by the survey: gambling and games of chance (JAH). Thus, although these are prohibited for minors, they are still practiced. Thus, in 2017, nearly four out of ten young people had done at least one YHL activity during the last twelve months, i.e. a level equivalent to that recorded in 2011. On the other hand, these practices concern more the male sex, in particular due to sports betting. “The practice of boys (has) increased, while that of girls has not changed significantly: respectively from 45.1% to 47.1% between 2011 and 2017 for boys and from 32.7% to 30.5% in girls”, according to the report. Finally, last observation: HADs are now more done on the internet, which makes the practice perhaps more accessible.
