Scots teen boys smoke cannabis more than anywhere else in the world

Teenagers in Scotland are more likely to have ever smoked cannabis than those in other countries with one in four boys having tried it by age 15, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

After carrying out one of the largest studies of its kind, the WHO found that 23 per cent of young boys admitted to smoking the Class B drug in their lifetime.

The global organisation examined data from 280,000 children aged 11, 13 and 15 from 44 countries who were also asked about their use of cigarettes and vapes, with some 4,000 children in Scotland participating.

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It found that children in Scotland and Wales are more likely to have ever smoked cannabis than most other countries, with both nations in the top five globally. This figure is only just overtaken by teenage girls in Canada, with 25 per cent saying they had tried the substance.

Findings also show that two-fifths of girls in Scotland have also vaped e-cigarettes by the age of 15, higher than in other countries such as France, Austria, Germany, Albania, Spain, Canada and Norway. Experts are now saying that vaping has overtaken classic tobacco smoking as a health concern among children.

Dr Jo Inchley, international co-ordinator for the study, called Health Behaviour In School-Aged Children, from the University of Glasgow, suggested some of the UK data is concerning.

She said there have been declines in the proportion of children who say they have ever used cannabis, certainly in Scotland in recent years. But she added: “We don’t see the same trends for what we call current use, or use of cannabis in last 30 days.

“We’re not seeing the declines amongst regular users like we do amongst more experimental users. Compared with other countries, we’re still relatively high. and 15-year-old boys in Scotland have the highest levels of cannabis use across the study as a whole.

“That’s concerning. So, even though we’ve seen these decreases, we are still relatively high compared to other countries.”

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Dr Inchley added: “Vaping in the UK is higher than the average across all the countries that took part in the survey as a whole. I guess that’s a little bit concerning, and we’ve certainly seen quite marked increases in vaping in Scotland over the last four years… lifetime use of e-cigarettes has more than doubled in Scotland since 2018.

“So there’s two areas for concern. One is that our levels are higher than elsewhere in Europe and, secondly, it looks like the trends are worsening quite substantially over a relatively short period of time in the UK.”

Dr Inchley said one driver of increasing vape use may be their availability and low cost. “Disposable vapes seem to be fairly readily accessible to young people and schools are reporting that that’s a major issue that they’re having to deal with on a day-to-day basis. Young people are telling us that too.

“Having ready access to any kind of substance like that obviously makes it more attractive and available, so that is a big issue. Some of the policy responses we’re seeing now from Governments across the UK is really positive in that respect, because we do need to address the issue of availability and accessibility.”

Dr Hans Kluge, WHO regional director for Europe, said the widespread use of harmful substances among children “is a serious public health threat”. He added: “Considering that the brain continues to develop well into a person’s mid-20s, adolescents need to be protected from the effects of toxic and dangerous products.

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“Unfortunately, children today are constantly exposed to targeted online marketing of harmful products, while popular culture, like video games, normalises them.”

Professor Sally Kendall, from the University of Kent who worked on the study, said that “clearly vaping has replaced smoking as a dangerous recreational activity in our children”.

A Government spokesman said: “The health advice is clear – smoking, vaping and underage drinking can be damaging for young people and their development. That is why there are age restrictions on the sale of these products.

“As a government, we are creating the UK’s first smokefree generation. Our landmark Tobacco and Vapes Bill will make it an offence to sell tobacco products to anyone born after 1 January 2009 and includes powers to limit flavours, packaging and displays of vapes to reduce the appeal to children."