There is a clear rise in drug-use amongst young Finns, according to research by the National Institute for Health and Welfare.

The institute surveyed the drug habits of 103,346 people between the ages of 14 and 20 living in Southern Finland, Eastern Finland and Lapland. ‘Cannabis use has increased in every age group’ stated chief researcher Riikka Puusniekka.

According to Mrs Puusniekka, consumption of marijuana is two percent up amongst 14 to 16 year old and 4 percent up amongst 16 to 20 year-olds, since a survey two years ago.

‘The biggest rise is in Helsinki,’ she explained, ‘where there has been a six percent increase. I think that this means that Finland is becoming more like other European countries and these cultures are coming here.’ Drug consumption decreased between 2000 and 2008 but is now on the rise again.

At the same time, consumption of both alcohol and tobacco has ‘decreased’ amongst young people, leading Mrs Puusniekka to wonder if ‘cannabis is replacing these.’

Canabis

Nationwide, 16 percent of High School (lukio) students have tried cannabis while amongst Vocational School students it is 22 percent, a difference which Mrs Puusniekka speculates might relate to the latter being from less educated families.

In Helsinki, 25 percent of 14 – 16 year-old have taken cannabis while a third of 16 to 20 year-olds have sampled it. In most regions, the increase is with both sexes but boys are more likely to have taken drugs than girls.

In Lapland, by contrast about 5 percent of 14-16 year olds have tried cannabis and around ten percent of high school students have. Amongst vocational school students, seventeen percent have sampled marijuana.

Two percent of lukio students have taken heroin, a percentage which is also on the rise.