Teens want to get high more than they want to be drunk, Malta school survey finds

Sixteen-year-old students in Malta are consuming more alcohol and smoking less, but are resorting more frequently to cannabis, particularly girls, according to a report on alcohol and drug use amongst school-leavers.

This was revealed on Tuesday at the launch of the international report on the 2015 European School Survey Project on Alcohol and Other Drugs (ESPAD), a study carried out in 35 European countries among more than 96,000 students.

In Malta, 3,226 16-year-old students in Form 5 participated in the study.

Sharon Arpa, research senior executive at the Foundation for Social Welfare Services, said that 86% of the Maltese students reported consuming alcohol during their lifetime, with 80% reporting drinking in the last 12 months and 54% reported drinking in the last 30 days.

38% of students had been drunk on at least one occasion in their lifetime, while 31% reported being intoxicated in the last 12 months and 14% in the last 30 days.

Arpa said binge drinking was a major worrying issue in the age group, with 47% of students reporting having engaged in heavy episodic drinking – consuming five or more drinks on one occasion – in the last 30 days.

She said the report confirmed that students first consumed alcohol at a young age, with 41% reporting consuming at last one glass of wine at the age of 13 or younger.

At the same age, students reported having consumed at least one beer (38%), spirits (25%), alcopops (20%) or cider (18%).

8% of respondents reported being drunk for their first time at the age fof 13 or younger.

Arpa said it was evident that alcohol was highly accessible, so much so that 37% of students had purchased an alcoholic beverage off-premise for their own consumption, while 50% of students had consumed an alcoholic beverage on-premise, mostly in pubs, bars, discos and clubs.

She noted that there was a decline in alcohol use registered between 2011 and 2015, including a reduction in the percentage of students using alcohol 40 times or more in their lifetime (down from 30% to 20%).

Arpa said students were asked to point out what problems they experienced while under the influence of alcohol during the last 12 months.

12% reported damaged or lost objects, 9% reported being involved in serious arguments, while 6% said they ended up having sexual intercourse without the use of condoms.

As to cigarettes, Arpa said that 29% of students in Malta reported having smoked cigarettes during their lifetime, while 30% reported aving smoked cigarettes in the last 30 days.

Before the age of 14, 13% of students reported having smoked their first cigarette and 3% had started to smoke on a daily basis.

Arpa said that a decline in smoking had been registered between 2011 and 2015, with lifetime prevalence of cigarette smoking falling to 29% from 38%.

Attendees at the conference included social solidarity minister Michael Farrugia and president emeritus George Abela

She attributed this decline in smoking to the high price of cigarettes as well as the number of policies and regulations introduced.

After alcohol and cigarettes, the substances most frequently reported as having ever been used were cannabis (13%), inhalants (8%), synthetic cannabis (7%), sedatives without prescription (3%), cocaine (3%) and ecstasy (2%).

Lifetime use of inhalants declined from 14% to 8% among all students between 2011 and 2015, wheras the use of cannabis registered a slight increase from 10% to 13%, with the largest increase registered among girls.

The use of other illicit drugs, such as amphetamines, cocaine, crack, ecstasy, LSD, heroin and GHB, fell from 6% to 5%.

Arpa said that internet use and gambling were included in the survery because of their possible addictive consequences.

87% of Maltese respondents reported using the internet during at least four of the previous days, with 44% of students reporting using social media for four or more hours on a typical day during the previous 30 days.

This was followed by streaming or downloading (21%), online gaming (15%), information seeking or surfing (12%), consumption activities (4%) and online gambling (1%).

Arpa said that 7% of students reported having gambled money in the preceding year.

Social solidarity minister Michael Farrugia said the country should never think it had done enough to tackle the problems raised by the use and addiction to alcohol, tobacco, or other drugs.

He said more importance needed to be given to internet and social media addiction, and to the lack of personal interaction prevalent in the younger generation.

“The government plans to amend legislation with regards to purchasing and consumption of alcohol by minors, in an effort to reduce the use of alcohol consumption,” he said.

Alfred Grixti, CEO of the Foundation for Social Welfare Services, said that while some date recorded – such as the decrease in the consumption of alcohol and gambling for money among 16-year0olds – the increase in use of cannabis was worrying.

“The most worrying is the 33% increase in the use of cannabis among girls, from 8% to 12% between 2011 and 2015,” he said. “A one-third increase is not something to be taken lightly.”

He also called for greater monitoring of trends on internet use among adolescents, and said society needed to be on the lookout for excessive use of internet in the same age group.

Jesmond Schembri, Sedqa operations director, said this was the sixth such study that Sedqa was coordinating

He said that Maltese research was carried out in parallel with European research, allowing Sedqa to determine trends across Europe and prepare adequate strategies.