15-year-olds spending £1,500 a year on alcohol and drugs.

Richard Gray ~ Scotland on Sunday ~ Health Correspondent ~ Sun 21 Aug 2005

ONE in 10 Scottish 15-year-olds is spending more than £1,500 a year on drugs, alcohol and cigarettes, alarming new research has revealed.

The figures disclose that school pupils in Scotland are spending staggering sums of money on substances it is illegal for them to buy.

In a survey of 3,500 fourth-year pupils, more than a third spent an average of £9 a week on alcohol, while a fifth spent the same on cigarettes.

A fifth of the 15-year-olds also admitted to spending an average of £11 a week on illicit drugs, with cannabis being the most commonly bought drug.

Those who claimed to be regular users of all three - about 9% - said they spent an average £29 a week on the substances.

With 58,933 S4 pupils in Scotland last year, it means 15-year-olds contribute about £9.3m to the alcoholic drinks industry every year. They also contribute £5.2m to the tobacco industry in Scotland.

The figures have led to fresh calls for a clampdown on the drinking, smoking and drug culture among the nation's youngsters.

The figures were highlighted in a review of substance abuse in young people by Dr David Ogilvie, a researcher at Glasgow University's Public Health Sciences Unit.

Ogilvie believes an increase in alcohol and cigarette prices may help to cut teenagers' access to the substances.

He said:

"Young people have less disposable income than adults, so they are more sensitive to price changes.

"They are also more influenced by what their peers do as well, so if higher prices stop friends from using substances as much then it will have a knock-on effect."

Official figures from research commissioned by the Scottish Executive also show that the average amount spent on alcohol by school pupils who drink regularly has risen from £8.73 a week in 1996 to £9 in 2004.

Similarly, the average amount spent on drugs by regular users at school has leapt from £9.64 a week to £11 a week. Ministers have launched a crackdown on Scotland's 'Buckfast culture' of teenage drinking, claiming underage drinking leads to a string of social problems including vandalism and violence on the streets.

The latest figures show the number of under-18s prosecuted for being drunk and disorderly in the UK increased by 2% from 30,739 in 2000 to 31,343 in 2003.

Earlier this year, justice minister Cathy Jamieson was jeered by a gang of youths in Auchinleck, Ayrshire, after she backed plans by the local Co-op store to restrict sales of Buckfast Tonic Wine in the area.

Professor Barry Jones, an expert in alcohol abuse from Glasgow University's department of psychology, also said increasing prices could help make it harder for youngsters to get hold of alcohol.

He said: "Alcohol is now much cheaper than it has been in the past, and the number of outlets selling it have increased. As a result, it is easier to get hold of it.

"By curbing young people's access to alcohol there is some evidence it can reduce the amount of alcohol-related harm per head of population."

Experts also point to the availability of alcohol in supermarkets as another possible cause of the increase in binge drinking.

Council officials in Glasgow are considering banning booze promotions at checkouts amid claims that they encourage impulse buying of alcohol.

Ogilvie's report, published in the British Medical Journal, also highlighted that almost a quarter of school children say they can buy cannabis while at school.

It revealed 20% of Scottish children have been offered drugs by the age of 10 - the highest rate in Europe.

Figures released last week by road safety group Brake revealed that one in seven drivers under 25 had got behind the wheel while high on drugs.

But Alistair Ramsay, of Scotland Against Drugs, said: "The trend in use of drugs in Scotland over the last eight years has come down, despite an increase in the number of young people being offered drugs.

"The intensity of work that has led to this cannot be allowed to slip away though."