Scottish Schools Adolescent Lifestyle and Substance Use Survey (SALSUS): drug use report 2018

4 Attitudes to drug use

Views on the acceptability of trying cannabis, cocaine and sniffing glue

Cannabis

A third (33%) of 15 year olds thought that it was 'ok' for someone of their age to try cannabis, while only 8% of 13 year olds thought this.

Among both age groups, the acceptability of trying cannabis has increased considerably – 33% of 15 year olds thought it was 'ok' in 2018, compared with 24% in 2015 (and 17% in 2013), and 8% of 13 year olds thought it was 'ok' in 2018, compared with 5% in 2015.

Among both age groups, boys were more likely than girls to think that trying cannabis was acceptable (Figure 4.1).

Figure 4.1 Acceptability of trying cannabis, by age and sex (2006-2018)

Q. Do you think it is 'ok' for someone your age to try cannabis to see what it is like?

Base: all pupils (for full base sizes please see Appendix B)

Cocaine

Only 3% of 13 year olds thought it was 'ok' for someone of their age to try cocaine, while 9% of 15 year olds thought this was acceptable.

Since 2015, there has been an increase in the proportion of 15 year olds thought it was 'ok' for someone of their age to try cocaine (9% in 2018, compared with 6% in 2015).

Among 15 year olds, boys were more likely than girls to think that trying cocaine was acceptable (Figure 4.2).

Figure 4.2 Acceptability of trying cocaine, by age and sex (2006-2018)

Q. Do you think it is 'ok' for someone your age to try cocaine to see what it is like?

Base: all pupils (for full base sizes please see Appendix B)

Sniffing Glue

8% of 13 year olds and 11% of 15 year olds thought that it was 'ok' for someone their age to try sniffing glue.

Since 2015, there has been an increase among both age groups in the proportions of pupils who thought that it was 'ok' for someone their age to try sniffing glue – 8% of 13 year olds thought it was 'ok' in 2018, compared with 6% in 2015, and 11% of 15 year olds thought it was 'ok' in 2018, compared with 7% in 2015.

Among 13 year olds, girls were more likely than boys to think that sniffing glue was acceptable (Figure 4.3).

Figure 4.3 Acceptability of trying glue sniffing, by age and sex (2006-2018)

Q. Do you think it is 'ok' for someone your age to try sniffing glue to see what it is like?

Base: all pupils (for full base sizes please see Appendix B)

Perceptions of the risks of drug use

Pupils were given a number of (true) statements about the risks of drug use and asked if they thought they were true or false. They were most likely to think that the following statements about drugs were true: "taking cocaine is dangerous" and "heroin is addictive".

For all but one of the statements, 15 year olds were more likely than 13 year olds to say that they were true. Thirteen year olds were more likely to answer "don't know" to all statements (Figure 4.4).

The only statement thought to be "true" by a higher proportion of 13 year olds than 15 year olds was "taking cannabis is dangerous." A third (34%) of 15 year olds stated that this was "false" (a much higher proportion than for any other statement).

Figure 4.4 Pupils' perceptions of the risks of taking drugs, by age (2018)

Q. Please read the following statements about drugs and say if you think they are true or false.

Base: all 13 year olds; all 15 year olds (for full base sizes please see Appendix B)

Pupils' perceptions of the risks of taking drugs also varied depending on their drug use status. Pupils who had reported never using drugs were more likely than those who had used drugs within the last month to state they "don't know" to all statements (Figure 4.5).

A higher proportion of recent users than those who have never used drugs, answered "true" to most statements. However, a much lower proportion of recent users (19%) compared with those who had never used drugs (52%), answered "true" to "taking cannabis is dangerous" (Figure 4.5). This is likely to reflect the fact that cannabis was the most commonly used drug among those who had used drugs in the last month.

Figure 4.5 15 year old pupils' perceptions of the risks of taking drugs, by own drug use (2018)

Q. Please read the following statements about drugs and say if you think they are true or false.

Base: 15 year old pupils who have used drugs in the last month; 15 year old pupils who have never used drugs (for full base sizes please see Appendix B)

Since 2015, there was an increase in the proportion of pupils who answered "true" to the statements "heroin is more dangerous that cannabis" (63% in 2018, compared to 55% in 2015), "heroin is addictive" (84% in 2018, compared to 82% in 2015), "injecting drugs can lead to HIV" (62% in 2018, compared to 60% in 2015), and "injecting drugs can lead to Hepatitis C" (45% in 2018, compared to 43% in 2015) (Figure 4.6).

Meanwhile, there was a decrease in the proportion of pupils who answered "true" to "taking cannabis is dangerous" (45% in 2018, compared to 54% in 2015), and "inhaling or sniffing solvents can cause brain damage" (64% in 2018, compared to 68% in 2015).

Figure 4.6 15 year olds who think statements are true (2015 to 2018)

Q. Please read the following statements about drugs and say if you think they are true or false.

Base: all 15 year olds in 2018; all 15 year olds in 2015 (for full base sizes please see Appendix B)

Attitudes to drug taking

Pupils were given a number of statements about attitudes to drug use and asked if they agreed or disagreed with them. Pupils from both age groups were most likely to agree with the statements "people my age who take drugs need help and advice", "all people who sell drugs should be punished" and "people who take drugs are stupid". They were less likely to agree that "it's ok for people to take legal highs^[8]" and "taking drugs is exciting" (Figure 4.7).

All of the attitudes have seen a change since 2015. Among 15 year olds, the proportion of pupils agreeing with the following statements has decreased since 2015: "people my age who take drugs need help and advice" (59% in 2018, compared with 63% in 2015), "all people who sell drugs should be punished" (43% in 2018, compared with 48% in 2015), and "people who take drugs are stupid" (43% in 2018, compared with 50% in 2015). Meanwhile there was an increase in the proportion of 15 year olds who agreed that "it is ok for people to take legal highs" (16% in 2018, compared with 10% in 2015) and "taking drugs is exciting" (10% in 2018, compared with 8% in 2015). Trends among 13 year olds were similar.

Overall, 13 year olds had more negative attitudes towards drug taking than 15 year olds.

Figure 4.7 Proportion of pupils agreeing with attitudes to drug taking statements, by age (2018)

Q. Please read the following statements and say if you agree or disagree.

Base: all 13 year olds; all 15 year olds (for full base sizes please see Appendix B)

Pupils' attitudes towards drug taking varied greatly depending on their drug use status. Those who have never used drugs had much more negative views than those who have used drugs within the last month (Figure 4.8).

Figure 4.8 15 year old pupils' attitudes to drug taking, by drug use status (2018)

Q. Please read the following statements and say if you agree or disagree

Base: 15 year old pupils who have used drugs in the last month (1,218), 15 year olds pupils who have never used drugs (7,665)