Today’s young people are clearly smarter than the generation before. The new drug report for Austria sees the risk of addiction explode especially from the age of 35 – with hard drugs, but also with alcohol and nicotine. The Covid pandemic has apparently exacerbated the problem.
Year after year, the Austrian drug report – this year a total of 252 pages – commissioned by the Ministry of Health, analyzes the addiction problem down to the smallest detail. What has already become clear in recent years is now finally clear: hard drugs are increasingly becoming a problem for the over-35s. That’s a fact.
The younger, they say, the wiser
“There is a clear ‘aging’ of the group of people with high-risk opioid use,” the report literally says. The situation is no better when it comes to problem alcohol and nicotine use, which affects a significant percentage of the population. Statistically, there are two reasons why addicts age: on the one hand, the numerous aid programs are effective and save so many people from a complete crash or even death from drugs at a young age.
On the other hand, the figures show that young people are more aware and careful about the subject: from opiates and “soft drugs” to alcohol and nicotine, the young people have about as much “first experience” as the parent generation, but are less likely to switch to risky things. when using illegal or legal drugs. A problem for years to come, however, could be that youth drug use is becoming extremely ramshackle and uncontrollable: While illicit drug use used to be tied to a handful of known substances, a confused multitude of designer drugs, prescription drugs, legal substances and combinations thereof now dominate.
“Children of Bahnhof Zoo” have grown up
However, the cliché image of young drug deaths à la “Wir Kinder vom Bahnhof Zoo” is no longer true: overdose deaths were last a youth problem in the 1990s. Around the turn of the millennium, the average drug-related mortality was 25 years, today the average age is 35 years.
Worrying rise in the shadow of the pandemic
The bright side of the drug report is that you don’t have to worry about young people as much as you did a few years ago. On the negative side, hard drug use – after years of easing – has generally increased sharply in the shadow of the Covid pandemic.
It is not (yet) clear where the increase comes from – probably partly due to the psychological stress caused by the pandemic and partly due to the disappearance of public oversight bodies and aid programs during the lockdowns and a general retreat into private life.
However, when it comes to the general population, the “most devastating drugs” remain alcohol and nicotine. 18 percent of the population smoke every day (EU average: 15 percent). Drops in men are offset by women smoking more. Young people are attracted to vaporizers and similar devices: sales of these products have quadrupled in just one year. Smoking – including secondhand smoke – is responsible for every sixth death in Austria.
Alcohol as Austria’s biggest drug problem
“Positive developments” noted the report in terms of alcohol dependence – with numbers declining for 30 years. Contrary to expectations, there was also no statistically measurable increase in the pandemic. Alcohol dependence is still Austria’s biggest drug problem: 15 percent of the population “drink to an extent that is dangerous to their health,” the report clarifies. The statistical focus of alcohol dependence is on men in their 50s.
And here too the boys are more reasonable: only about three to six percent of young people between the ages of 14 and 17 have to worry about their alcohol consumption.
Source: Krone
I am Wallace Jones, an experienced journalist. I specialize in writing for the world section of Today Times Live. With over a decade of experience, I have developed an eye for detail when it comes to reporting on local and global stories. My passion lies in uncovering the truth through my investigative skills and creating thought-provoking content that resonates with readers worldwide.
