Trends and patterns in licit and illicit drug use in nightlife and among secondary school pupils in Amsterdam, 2011

Antenna is a mixed-method study that annually monitors trends in nightlife and substance use among Amsterdam adolescents and young adults. It combines and integrates qualitative data from a panel study (semi-annual interviews with a panel of avid nightlifers and professionals from various nightlife scenes) with quantitative data from annual surveys among various populations of young people as well as from substance use prevention indicators. In 2011, Antenna included a survey among 840 secondary school pupils. The school survey shows that the likelihood of substance use increases with age. Within the group of older pupils, the subgroup aged above 16 not only had much higher rates of current tobacco, alcohol and cannabis use than those under 16, but they also had higher lifetime rates of ecstasy, amphetamine, laughing gas and GHB consumption.