Ecstasy use reaches new high amongst young people

A new Home Office report found huge increases in the number of young adults who have tried ecstacy or new "legal highs" 

One in twenty young people have tried ecstasy over the past twelve months Photo: ALAMY

By Dillon Leet

Ecstasy use among young people has reached the highest level for more than a decade, according to a new report.

A recent Home Office report showed that 5.4 per cent of 16-24 year olds had taken the drug over the past year, compared to 3.9 per cent in 2014.

This amounts to almost 100,000 new users, bringing the total number of young adults who have tried ecstasy to 250,000.

However, there was a significant decrease in the number of young people who admitted to taking a Class A drug over the past twelve months.

“Although the long-term trend in last year ecstasy use among young adults shows many fluctuations, the overall long-term direction before the recent increases was downward. It is too early to say whether the latest estimates show a change in the direction of the trend, or another fluctuation”, the Home Office said.

The study also provided one of the first official insights into the new prevalence of new psychoactive substances (NPS), synthetic chemicals that are often referred to as “legal highs”, although a ban has recently been announced.

While the report showed that NPS prevalence amongst adults was “generally low” compared to usage of “traditional” drugs like marijuana or cocaine, it estimated that 279,000 16-54 year olds had tried the dangerous substances over the past year.

Use was markedly higher amongst young adults, with 2.8 per cent of people in the 16-24 age range admitting to have taken a NPS over the past year, and one in six saying they have tried a “legal high”.
Men were three times more likely to have tried the synthetic substances than women, and over a third of users buy their legal high from a shop.
The report found that a total of one in five young people have taken a drug in the past twelve months, and over a third of UK citizens have tried an illegal substance over their lifetime.