Czech 16-year-olds have most experience with drugs in all Europe

Czech 16-year-olds have more experience of drugs than their peers anywhere else in Europe, a study has found. The ESPAD 2007 study suggested that 46 percent of Czech 16-year-olds had tried illegal drugs before, with marihuana being the most common substance used. Just under ten percent of Czech teenagers had tried harder drugs such as cocaine and heroin, the study said. The research was conducted in 26 countries over the last 12 years. It found that while the situation was improving in most parts of Europe, in terms of teenage drug-abuse, the Czech Republic and Slovakia were getting worse. More than one third of the Czech students questioned for the survey said that they had smoked marihuana in the past 30 days.