Pre-teenage children's experiences of drug use

This paper examines the experiences of a sample of 43 pre-teenage drug users. The main reasons which they gave for using drugs were enjoyment and boredom. These are consistent with the reasons for using drugs reported in studies of older youths. While the children set firm boundaries regarding the drugs which they would and would not use, several aspects of their experiences give cause for concern. These include the ease with which they were able to obtain illegal drugs, their lack of knowledge of the risks involved with their drug-taking, the tendency of some to combine the consumption of drugs and alcohol, and the secluded or remote nature of the locations in which the drugs were used. The paper concludes by emphasising the need for interventions which address the issue of harm reduction for this population and which provide a range of alternative activities as a way of diverting young people from drugs.