BRITAIN’s 18 to 30-year-olds fear the dangers of hard drugs, but appear to be totally oblivious to the threat posed by sexually transmitted infections or binge drinking.
About nine out of ten twenty-something Britons are opposed to the legalisation of Class A drugs, even though a third reckon that their friends have experimented with them, according to The Times iGeneration survey.
Even support for the legalisation of soft drugs is lukewarm, with only a small majority, 53 per cent, believing it should not be a criminal offence to take cannabis.
But the picture is very different when it comes to casual sex and alcohol use. Despite warnings that the nation is facing an epidemic of sexually transmitted diseases, with a 28 per cent increase in syphilis cases and a 9 per cent rise in chlamydia in the space of one year, 78 per cent of those questioned by Populus for the poll believed that their friends had had sex with a stranger on a one-night stand.
Fifty-two per cent said that they had had casual sex outside a long-term relationship without using a condom.
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This recklessness may be driven by drink. Despite figures showing that 14 million working days are lost each year because of alcohol use, and warnings that half of all violent crime is attributed to binge drinking, 84 per cent said that their friends engaged in binge drinking.
The findings raise serious questions for policymakers how better to target public health messages. Marie, 26, a nursery nurse from Brighton who did not want to use her full name, said that almost all of her friends had had a one-night stand.
“Girls won’t always admit to having one-night stands because it is still seen as something that ‘nice girls’ don’t do. I would not admit it to my boyfriend that I had done it in the past. In fact, I’ve always lied to my boyfriends about how many people I’ve slept with and told them a much lower number,” she said.
Marie believed the survey figures on unprotected sex were a gross underestimation. “Anybody who says they have not had unprotected sex is lying. Everybody has done it in the heat of the moment after having a few drinks,” she said.
Anne Weyman, chief executive of the Family Planning Association, said that the survey findings showed how much more work needed to be done in improving sex education.
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“I think there is still a very strong feeling among many people that sexual infections are not something that happen in their environment.
“We still have not got the message across that if you have had sex with somebody who has had sex with somebody else, you might get an infection, regardless of how elegantly they are dressed and how much money they earn,” she said.
She added that the findings underlined the importance of improving sexual health education in schools, as 18 to 30-year-olds were hard to reach. “This shows that we haven’t got the right messages through to them when they were younger,” she said.
A spokeswoman from Alcohol Concern said that to influence 18 to 30-year-olds any campaign would have to be as entertaining as the campaigns run by drinks companies.
“Promoting sensible drinking is a bit boring, so highlighting the fact that you may make a fool of yourself and other factors may increase awareness rather than just sticking to the health impacts. Younger people rarely think that health problems will affect them so may not take notice,” she said.
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She added, however, that the Government did need to increase spending: “Compared to the money spent on healthy eating and smoking campaigns, alcohol awareness comes very low on spending.”
The survey findings on drug use were more mixed. Although 36 per cent of 18 to 30-year-olds said their friends had used cocaine or Ecstasy at least once, the survey found that the proportions opposing the legalisation of cocaine and Ecstasy were high, running at 89 and 87 per cent respectively. More than 90 per cent were against legalising heroin.
Richard Elwes, 26, an academic from Leeds, said that used responsibly, cannabis could produce relaxing and entertaining communal experience. “It can induce laughter and much comedy,” he said.
He was much more wary, however, about class A drugs such as heroin.
“The Government should set up clinics where addicts can receive heroin under medical supervision, which will massively cut crime, reduce risks of an overdose and deglamorise the drug by associating it with such a sterile environment,” he said.