title: Epidemiology of adolescent substance use in London schools.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Alcohol and substance use in adolescence can be associated with a range of health, emotional, social, behavioural and legal problems. There has been a change in the recreational drugs available to users in recent years; however, little is known about how this impacts the youngest and most vulnerable population of substance users.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To investigate the prevalence of substance use among children aged 15-18 years in London schools.
  
  
  METHODS
  Questionnaire survey.
  
  
  METHODS
  Students aged 15-18 years in three London schools self-completed the questionnaire which collected demographic data (age, gender and ethnicity) and data on frequency of use of alcohol, tobacco and classical recreational drugs and novel psychoactive substances.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Completed surveys were available from 533 students (47.8% of those invited to participate). One hundred thirteen (20.4%) students reported lifetime use of at least one recreational drug, cannabis (96, 18.7%) was commonly reported and only 6 (1.1%) reported use of a novel psychoactive substance. A total of 250 (47.8%) reported using alcohol at least once; those from White and Mixed ethnic groups were more likely to report using alcohol than those in other ethnic groups. A total of 382 (74.2%) students reported using tobacco at least once, and students from ethnic minorities were more likely to smoke than their White counterparts.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study supports previous findings that alcohol and drug use are declining in adolescents in UK. There are different patterns of substance use amongst different ethnic groups; this is important to schools and policymakers planning interventions related to substance use in school-aged children.
authors.affiliation: From the Florence Nightingale Faculty of Nursing & Midwifery, King's College London, London, UK.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Penney
authors.affiliation: Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust and King's Health Partners, Clinical Toxicology, London, UK Faculty of Life Sciences and Medicine, King's College London, London, UK paul.dargan@gstt.nhs.uk.
authors.forename: P I
authors.initials: PI
authors.lastname: Dargan
authors.affiliation: From the Florence Nightingale Faculty of Nursing & Midwifery, King's College London, London, UK.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Padmore
authors.affiliation: Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust and King's Health Partners, Clinical Toxicology, London, UK Faculty of Life Sciences and Medicine, King's College London, London, UK.
authors.forename: D M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Wood
authors.affiliation: From the Florence Nightingale Faculty of Nursing & Midwifery, King's College London, London, UK.
authors.forename: I J
authors.initials: IJ
authors.lastname: Norman
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior / Q000208:ethnology / Q000523:psychology*; D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000517:prevention & control; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005006:Ethnicity; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D008131:London / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D011050:Policy Making; D012572:School Health Services; D012574:Schools; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D013334:Students / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000517:prevention & control