Two separate surveys suggest that Britain's teenagers are amongst the heaviest drug-users and drinkers in Europe. The British government has introduced a number of measures to tackle the use and supply of drugs, particularly among young people.

According to another survey, by the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction, two in five 15-year-olds in the UK have tried cannabis. This number is higher than anywhere else in Europe. The UK has also the joint highest number of young cocaine users, alongside Spain.

The British government has recently unveiled new plans to fight the problem of drug abuse in the United Kingdom, also among teenagers. According to the new proposals, young offenders will have to attend drug treatment as part of community service. British police will be able to give people blood tests for drugs when they arrest them, not just when they charge them with an offence. Dealers working near a school or using children to help sell drugs will face tougher penalties.

But schools also try to fight the problem of drug use themselves. At the beginning of 2005 a British state school has introduced for the first time random drug testing. Students from a school in Kent will have mouth swabs taken to detect drug use. Each week 20 names will be selected by computer and the swabs sent off to a drug testing laboratory. Results will be available three days later. The school's head teacher says that no child will be tested against his or her wishes. Children who test positive will not be expelled from the school, but those who sell drugs will.

Vocabulary

survey
a collection of information for a particual purpose

drinker
here: a person who drinks alcohol

measure
here: an action to achieve some purpose

tackle
try to deal with something (a problem)

supply
provision of something which is needed

indulged
if you indulge (in something), you take pleasure in it

binge drinking
uncontrolled drinking over a period of time

was classed as
was categorised as

admitted
here: agreed that something has happened

addiction
the state of being dependent on something, for example drugs or alcohol

joint
shared, common

alongside
together with; next to

unveiled
made known publicly; revealed

drug abuse
improper or excessive use of narcotics

community service
unpaid work for the community, often as an alternative to prison

charge them with
accuse them of

dealers
here: people selling drugs

state school
a school maintained by the state, providing free education

random
without a plan; irregular

mouth swabs
tests taken with a small piece of cotton which is put into a person's mouth in order to take a sample of their saliva

detect
discover or reveal

expelled
forced to leave