Teenagers in Latvia smoke and drink alcohol less when compared to previous years. Use of narcotics, however, remains widely spread, according to data from the European School Survey Project on Alcohol and Other Drugs (ESPAD) as mentioned in Latvian Ministry of Welfare report On the State of Children in the Country in 2019-2020.
Ministry of Welfare Department of Children and Family Policy senior expert Lauris Neikens reported at a meeting of Saeima’s Human Rights and Public Affairs Committee and Social and Employment Matters Committee on Wednesday, 12 January, that the percentage of students in Europe who smoke is down, but the use of narcotics and e-cigarettes is up.
The percentage of students in Europe who have tried smoking has reduced from 79.9% in 2002 to 49.2% in 2019.
On top of that, the number of students who smoke has decreased from 34.3% in 2002 to 14.8% in 2019. In December 2021 a total of 23% of students of 15 years of age were confirmed smokers. According to ESPAD data, this is one percentage point less when compared to 2015.
At the same time, new tobacco product, as well as other nicotine-containing products, such as electronic cigarettes, are gradually becoming more and more popular among teenagers. The Global Youth Tobacco Survey reveals that 51.3% of youngsters 13 to 15 years of age tried electronic cigarettes in 2019, which is 24.9 percentage points more when compared to 2014.
In December 2021, 18% of youngsters used electronic cigarettes for one day or over the course of multiple days, which is eight percentage points more when compared to 2014.
Consumption of alcohol has reduced among minors, but it is still considered high. Both in 2015 and 2020 a total of 89% of interviewed youngsters admitted drinking alcohol at least once.
According to results of the Study of Latvian students’ health habits 2017/2018, at least 7.1% of students had got drunk at least once in 30 days. This is particularly true for fifteen year old boys and girls (14.6% and 17.9%).
27% of interviewed 15 year old teenagers admit having tried narcotic substances at least once.
Compared to 2015, the share of teenagers who have tried such substances has increased by eight percentage points.
At the same time, the share of teenagers who have tried marijuana has increased by nine percentage points in 2019, reaching 26%, exceeding the index of 2015, when it was 17%.
The study shows that other psychoactive substances are less popular among Latvian teenagers – 8.4%. However, indexes are on a rise when compared to 2015 (4.8%).
According to Neikens, to prevent the use of narcotics in schools, Latvian State Police regularly holds different information events to raise awareness about narcotic-related topics.
State Police’s Main Order Police Coordination and Control Department’s Service Coordination Office chief inspector Vineta Pavlovska stresses that police focus greatly on prevention of use of narcotic substances at education facilities.
«We have a project called Safe School. In it we work together with education institutions to evaluate the level of safety at schools and immediate school territory to make sure no undesirables come in and distribute narcotics among students. We also perform regular raids with dogs. During these raids we visit schools to uncover potential cases involving narcotics. We also perform different educational events for children to teach them about the negative effect from narcotics,» says Pavlovska.
The Ministry of Health has commenced a procurement procedure to ensure preventive measures at education institutions to help prevent addiction to narcotics among students, said the ministry’s Health Promotion and Addiction Prevention Office head Inga Birzniece at the joint meeting.
Birzniece also said there are plans for preventive measures against narcotics in municipalities to help train specialists to work with youngsters and teenagers in risk groups or ones that have already tried narcotic substances.
The Ministry of Health also has in development a plan for assistance for persons addicted to narcotics or alcoholic beverages.
Narcotics gradually replace smoking and alcohol among teenagers
