Hashishi

Hard drugs no lure for cannabis-smoking mild ones
1-21-`07 | The West Australian

They value their down time, but when it comes to having fun today’s iGen-ers prefer to walk on the mild side.

Despite their devil-maycare attitude towards alcohol, the next generation of leaders has a surprisingly low tolerance towards illegal drugs.

While the occasional puff on a joint was considered acceptable by almost a third of those who responded to the study by Colmar Brunton Research, so-called party drugs were well and truly out of favour, with more than three-quarters of young people saying it was never acceptable to use amphetamines or cocaine, and 70 per cent ruling out ecstasy.

Just one per cent thought it was all right to use amphetamines regularly, and 2 per cent felt the same about cocaine. Heroin was the biggest loser, with a massive 95 per cent of the iGeneration surveyed saying it was never acceptable.

Women were less tolerant of drug use than men.

HBF family doctor Duncan Jefferson said the results, which were consistent with research collected through the National Drug Strategy Household survey, showed the antidrug message was finally getting through.

But he was concerned about the high acceptance of alcohol and cannabis, saying those substances were often seen as precursors to harder drug use.

Drug and Alcohol Office acting executive director Eric Dillon said cannabis use had been declining over the past decade but there was still a worrying attitude among some people that it was relatively harmless.

“Just like tobacco, cannabis is hard to quit and is associated with serious health problems including mental health disorders and respiratory disease,” Mr Dillon said.

When it came to letting their hair down, catching the latest Hollywood blockbuster and hanging out with friends topped the list of fun things to do followed by watching or playing sport.

Going to pubs and clubs came a distant fourth on the list, with only 18 per cent saying it was one of their favourite activities.

Their conservative attitudes extended to their role models, with two in five saying their perception of fallen West Coast Eagle Ben Cousins had changed following revelations about the former captain’s drug taking.

While more than half of respondents said Cousins was an excellent sportsman, 75 per cent said they no longer saw him as a role model and 10 per cent said he was a bad influence.

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