Young men more at risk from drugs, says report

Young men are having a harder time dealing with the recession and might be using drugs to cope.

The National Advisory Committee on Drugs survey finds that men and those in the 15 to 24 age bracket are still the highest users of illegal drugs.

The NACD report also finds that the level of drug use has remained stable over the past year.

NACD Chairperson Des Corrigan said that the gap in drug use between men and women has not narrowed.

Mr Corrigan said: "The impact (of) the recession on young men's physical and mental health - they are more vulnerable.

"Even though they don't think they are, they are".

"The fact that they're more likely to use a range of drugs - not just illegal drugs but legal drugs as well - means their health is an issue".

"Perhaps we need to find some ways of actually targeting them," he added.