The Canary Islands have the lowest prevalence of drunkenness among young people between 14 and 18 years old
The Canary Islands is the Spanish autonomous community that has the lowest prevalence of drunkenness among young people between 14 and 18 years of age. This is reflected in the Survey on Drug Use in Secondary Education in Spain (Studies) 2021 of the Ministry of Health, which was carried out between March and May among Secondary and Vocational Training students. According to the report, which in the case of the Islands serves a sample made up of 1,150 people enrolled in some thirty educational centers, 43% have acknowledged having gotten drunk at some point in their life; 31.8% in the last 12 months; and 17.7% in the last 30 days. It should be noted that the state average is 48%, 39.4% and 23.2%, respectively.
However, taking into account the document published in 2018, the data has slightly worsened. In fact, in this survey, which took into consideration a payroll made up of 1,328 students in the same age group, 40.3% claimed to have ever gotten drunk; 33.4% in the last 12 months; and 17.17% in the last month.
In terms of alcohol consumption, the Archipelago is also below the national average in the three indicators, 72.5% compared to 73.9% in relation to some time in life; 68.3% compared to 70.5% in relation to the last 12 months; and 50.4% compared to 53.6% in relation to the last 30 days. Following this line, Navarra is the only region that exceeds the 80% range in the prevalence of consumption on any occasion (81.2%), although Murcia is the one that registers the lowest rates in any of the temporary spaces.
The Canary Islands also occupy the best position as regards the phenomenon of the bottle - without taking into account the autonomous cities of Ceuta and Melilla due to the low sample volume -, with a prevalence of 24.2% in the last 12 months. Asturias follows, with 35%; Galicia, with 35.7%; Madrid and Murcia, with 38%; The Balearic Islands, with 38.2%; Aragon, with 39.5%; La Rioja, with 40.1%; Andalusia, with 40.4%; Castilla-La Mancha, with 42.4%; the Valencian Community, with 43.6%; Catalonia, with 44.8%; Basque Country, with 46.7%; Cantabria, with 47.3%; Extremadura, with 49.7%; Castilla y León, with 50.4%; and Navarra, with 51.1%.
With regard to cannabis use, it must be said that the Archipelago is, together with Madrid, the sixth community with the lowest 12-month prevalence rate (21.8%), and is behind La Rioja, with 20.5%; Aragon, with 20.4%; Asturias, with 18.5%; Murcia, with 17.4%; and Andalusia, with 16.1%.
Regarding tobacco consumption, the percentage of students who admit to having smoked at some point is higher in Castilla y León and Extremadura, with a rate that exceeds 43%. In this sense, the lowest prevalences of consumption, regardless of the time frame, are seen in the Islands, with 31.8% of young people claiming to have consumed cigarettes at some time in their lives, 23.4% in the last 12 months; and 16.8% in the last 30 days.
