This document discusses new psychoactive substances (NPS) use among young people and the government's response. It provides data from surveys that found 6.1% of young adults aged 16-24 had used nitrous oxide and 1.1% had used salvia in the last year. Treatment numbers for drugs like ketamine and mephedrone among youth are shown increasing from 2005-2013. The government advises youth that legal highs can be dangerous due to unknown contents and effects. Schools are told to include NPS in drug policies as unauthorized substances. Experts argue for a holistic public health approach addressing multiple social influences on youth, developing evidence, and ensuring access to treatment services. Harsh punishment and knowledge alone

1. NPS Education
and Prevention
A tricky balance
Photo by Flickr user stephenjohnbryde

2. A visible presence

4. What do we know about young
people’s use of NPS
• Crime Survey for England and
Wales found young adults,
aged 16 to 24:
– 6.1% had taken nitrous oxide in
the last year
– 1.1% had taken salvia in the
last year
• Global Drug Survey
– 20.4% had taken nitrous oxide
in the last year
– 10.9% had taken ‘mystery
white powder’ in the last year
– c.13% said they had taken a
legal high/research
chemical/synthetic cannabis &
electronic THC Photo by Flickr user Yaniv Golan

5. Young People in Treatment for ‘Club
Drugs’
0
500
1000
1500
2000
2500
2005-06 2006-07 2007-08 2008-09 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 2012-13
Ketamine Ecstasy Mephedrone
Source: Young People’s Statistics from the National Drug Treatment Monitoring System (NDTMS), Public Health England (2013)

6. DrugScope’s Street Drug Survey 2013
• Mephedrone-type stimulant drugs were popular with older teenagers;
• Younger teenagers were more attracted by the synthetic cannabinoids substances
with lurid names such as Clockwork Orange and Exodus Damnation;
• Few young people bought drugs online, but were able to buy not only from head
shops, but a range of high street outlets including petrol stations and take-away
food shops, especially in the north of England;
• While few young people were coming forward to treatment services, outreach
workers told a different story about patterns of use and of young people at risk of
serious health consequences.

7. The Official Response
Photo by Flickr user Peter Lee

8. What does the government say to
young people about NPS?
“Just the fact that a substance is sold as “legal” , doesn’t mean
that it’s safe - you can’t really be sure what’s in a ‘legal high’
that you’ve bought, or been given, or what effect it’s likely to
have on you…
“In fact, for many ‘legal highs’, there has been little or no
useful research into the short or long-term effects in people.”

9. What does the government say to
schools about NPS?
“New psychoactive substances should be included in
the school drug policy as unauthorised substances and
treated as such. If there is uncertainty about what the
substance is, it should be treated as a controlled drug.”
DfE and ACPO drug advice for schools (2012)

10. “Teachers should be mindful not to deliver individual sessions on
NPS, or specific legal or illegal substances. Instead, the focus
should be on the essential developmental skills, proven to be
effective in building young people’s resilience in relation to risky
behaviours and substance misuse.”
‘Legal Highs’ and Novel Psychoactive Substances (2014)
What does ADEPIS say to teachers
about NPS?

11. WHAT SHOULD WE DO?
Photo by Flickr user Ian Page-Echols

12. A life course approach
Source: Davies, S.C. “Annual Report of the Chief Medical Officer, Volume One, 2011, On the State of the Public’s
Health” London: Department of Health (2012)

13. And for NPS specifically?
• Increase our understanding of prevalence
– use, harms and at risk groups
• Ensure NPS covered in wider personal social
and health education
• Think beyond schools and universities
– Environment, Community, Family, Workplace
• Develop and learn from evidence
• Understand routes into specialist services

14. And things we might want to avoid
• Messages that focus on the most extreme
outcomes
– May work for least likely to use, but it boomerangs
for contemplators and dabblers
• Harsh and inconsistent punishment
• Knowledge on its own
– Skills and character essential

15. Thank you
Andrew Brown
Director of Policy, Influence and Engagement
DrugScope
@andrewbrown365
andrewb@drugscope.org.uk
www.drugscope.org.uk