Prevalence and profiles of substance and multi-substance use by adolescents:UK and international perspectives. Report for the Advisory Council On The Misuse Of Drugs Prevention Working Group (PWG): pathways to substance misuse by young people in the UK in the early 21st century and their implications for policy and practice.

This report describes three aspects of substance use patterns among adolescents. Section one describes variation in regular smoking and drinking, drunkenness and recent cannabis use among adolescents in Europe and North America, focusing on the relative position of UK countries with respect to each other and within a wider international perspective. The second section focuses on geographic and demographic variation within a single country, Scotland, and the associated patterns in prevalence of adolescent substance use. The final section profiles regular adolescent substance users with respect to a variety of demographic, family, school and peer related factors, focusing on adolescents exhibiting particularly risky patterns of substance use such as those using multiple substances regularly.