Young people and drugs – a legal overview

Summary

Various studies and surveys have shown that involvement with drugs starts at an early age, and frequently before adulthood. In 1999, lifetime prevalence rates of cannabis use among 15-16 year olds in Europe ranged between 8-35%, while up to 4% in some countries had tried Ecstasy1.

A Eurobarometer survey in Spring 2002 of young people aged 15-24 found that, of 7687 respondents across the EU, 54.9% tended to agreei with the statement “It is easy to get drugs in or near my school/college”, ranging from about 34% in Austria and Finland to 66% in Spain and 69% in Greece. 46% had already been offered cannabis, and 26% had already been offered drugs other than cannabis.

States are interested in protection of the child from drugs, as illustrated by a quick analysis of the national drug strategies. Prevention is one of the main targets outlined in every strategy, with a strong emphasis on prevention programmes in schools and in the family. Mass media campaigns increasingly include those specifically targeted at youth, with a more credible and informative message than the paternalistic “Just say no”.

The EU Action Plan on Drugs 2000-2004 also listed the first of its six main targets as “to reduce significantly over five years the prevalence of drug use, as well as new recruitment to it, particularly among young users under 18 years of age”. Particular actions foreseen included: studies on attitudes of youth to drugs (as in the Eurobarometer survey, above); inclusion in school curricula of the prevention of drugs in schools; develop and implement preventive actions and strategies particularly for children and young people; prevention of juvenile and urban delinquency; alternatives to prison, especially for young drug offenders.

It is with these aspects in mind that the ELDD researched the legal provisions in national legislations that addressed the issue of drugs and young people. This was looked at in three ways:

• The minor as a “victim” of drugs, whereby adults might expose them to drugs by selling or giving drugs to them; actively encouraging them to take drugs; using drugs near them; or employing them as drug “runners” or resellers:

• The minor as a dealer of drugs, when the criminal penalties usually applied to adult dealers might not apply in the same way, if at all, to a child;

• The minor as a user of drugs, whereby criminal penalties may or may not be applied, and special treatment programs might be linked with parental approval.

The objective was to examine how countries addressed the problem via their legal frameworks, and to see if there was a tendency to define specific offences regarding young people or to leave this to the discretion of the police, prosecution or judicial authorities. Once again, it should be remembered that this is a study primarily of countries’ formal drug laws; due to lack of appropriate research resources, it can only include limited insights into how these laws are implemented.