Drug and alcohol use in the young

Substance misuse by young people remains at a historically high level and, because of its associated morbidity ad mortality, is an important public health problem. Substance misuse is linked with a range of predisposing and consequential psychopathology. a constructive response to these phenomena requires alliances between child and adolescent mental health and substance misuse services. Mistrust and other developmental difficulties may make these young people difficult to engage and to reintegrate so that services need a capacity for full assessment, effective outreach and to mobilize community resources.