Romanian Students Drink, Smoke And Use Drugs Less Than Other Europeans – Survey

The Romanian component of the ESPAD report was made public in a press conference Thursday, organized by the National Public Health School, and concerns the year 2007 and young people under the age of 16.

The research was conducted by the Swedish Council for Information on alcohol and other Drugs (CAN), The European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA) and the Council of Europe, Co-operation Group to Combat Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking in Drugs (Pompidou Group). In Romania, the research was coordinated by the National Public Health School and the National Anti-drug Agency, which collected data and developed half of the database.

The results show that, although 74% of Romanian students stated they had drunk alcohol over the past 12 months, this figure is below the European average. Just over a quarter (26%), had been inebriated over the past 12 months. Moreover, the consumption of cigarettes is lower than the ESPAD average, even though one of four students claims to have smoked in the last month.

Very few Romanian students claim to have smoked cannabis (4%), non-cannabis drugs (3%), inhalants (4%), tranquilizers without medical prescription (4%) or alcohol combined with pills (4%).

The main purpose of ESPAD is to collect comparative data on substance consumption among European students aged 15 to 16, in order to monitor such trends in and between countries. There have been four data collection stages within the ESPAD project. The first research was conducted in 26 countries back in 1995, while the 2007 research was carried out in 35 countries.

Compared to the other 34 countries included in the study, Romania reported a lower prevalence for alcohol consumption over the past 12 months, inebriation over the past 12 months, cigarette consumption over the past 30 days, cannabis consumption, use of drugs other than cannabis, use of inhalants, consumption of tranquilizers or sedatives without medical prescription, and consumption of alcohol combined with pills.