Main Cyprus findings of the 1999 European School Project on Alcohol and other Drugs (ESPAD):
Overall narcotics abuse
· Cyprus is bottom of European league of illicit drug use, 3.5 per cent of Cypriot 16-year-olds having tried drugs, compared to the European average of 18 per cent.
· Use of illegal narcotics in Cyprus has fallen by 37 per cent since the last ESPAD study in 1995. The 1999 study found that 3.5 per cent of Cypriot teenagers had used drugs, compared to 5.6 per cent in 1995.
Cannabis use
· Only Rumanian teenagers show less inclination to try cannabis than their Cypriot counterparts. Two per cent of Cypriot teens have tried hashish, whereas the European average is 16 per cent.
· Cannabis remains the most popular drug in Cyprus, but its popularity has dropped. In 1999, 2.5 per cent of 16-year-olds had tried hashish or marijuana, compared to 4.8 per cent in 1995.
Use of harder drugs
· Cyprus and Finland are joint-bottom of the hard drugs use league for Europe. The European average is six per cent, while the Cyprus average hovers around 2 per cent.
· The number of teenagers using harder drugs (heroin, amphetamines, LSD, crack, cocaine and ecstasy) dropped to 1.4 per cent in 1999, compared to 2 per cent in 1995.
· Only three per cent of Cypriot secondary school students have tried mixing alcohol with pills, compared to the European average of 8 per cent.
· Only in use of legal “hard” drugs (tranquillisers and sedatives) can Cyprus compare to the European average. Six per cent of Cypriot teenagers have used such drugs, compared to seven per cent in other European countries.
Heroin
· The number of Cypriot teenage boys who have tried heroin up to nine times has risen by 50 per cent since 1995, from 2.2 per cent to 3.4 per cent
· The overall number of those trying heroin remained roughly the same, at 1.8 per cent in 1999 compared to 1.9 per cent in 1995.
Use of legal drugs (cigarettes and alcohol)
· Use of legal drugs appears to be declining among Cypriot teenagers. In 1999, 50 per cent of 16-year-old students had tried smoking and 86.2 per cent had tried alcoholic drinks. The equivalent figures for in the 1995 ESPAD study were 52.3 and 90.3 per cent, respectively.
· Boys still smoke and drink more than girls – three times as many boys (25.1 per cent) smoke regularly compared to girls (8.2 per cent).
Smoking
· Cyprus is 5th from bottom in the European teenage smoking league, only 5 per cent of local teens being regular smokers.
· Half of local teens have tried cigarettes, compared to the European average of 69 per cent.
· Sixteen per cent of Cypriot 16-year-olds smoke every week, compared to 37 per cent of European teens.
Alcohol
· Cyprus is bottom of the European table for teenagers who have been drunk more than ten times. The local figure is 1 per cent – Denmark tops the table with 39 per cent.
· Four-fifths of Cypriot 16-year-olds have tried alcohol, compared to the European average of 83 per cent.
· In 1995, a third of those polled in Cyprus drank regularly, compared to 20.5 per cent in 1999.
· The number of local teenagers who have been drunk at least once is down to 32.4 per cent in 1999, compared to 34.4 per cent in 1995.
The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.
