Teen drug use higher in poorer Irish families

Adolescent substance abuse here is below average of 42 countries, but most likely among less affluent

Irish adolescents from lower-income families are more likely to use alcohol, cannabis, and cigarettes, contrary to the experience in the bulk of 42 countries surveyed by the World Health Organisation.

However, overall levels of drug use by adolescents in Ireland were typically below the average, with the exception of cigarette smoking among 11-year-old boys — which was three times higher than the average.