Study pinpoints 'critical period' to intervene when combating drug use

The research said cocaine use is associated with early substance use, with a 'strong gradient of risk' between age of first alcohol and cocaine use.

The late-teens have been described as a “critical period” for intervening on escalating drug use after research among 20-year-olds found that recent use of cocaine (within the last year) jumped six-fold since the same group were surveyed at age 17.

A study, carried out by a team of researchers in Ireland and Britain, conducted a major analysis of Growing up in Ireland, a nationally representative survey of young people in Ireland.