Drug use among teenagers has become the hot policy topic of the day in Lithuania, with the President’s Office going so far as to call it a national security threat. But do data bear that out?
“We have plenty of data to say that the trends are completely negative,” Kęstutis Budrys, the president’s chief national security adviser, said earlier this week. “The data on the prevalence of drug use both in the general society and among minors show negative trends and growth.”
Several incidents of teenagers hospitalised with drug intoxication have gotten politicians racing with proposals what is to be done, ranging from more educational programmes to mandatory bag checks at schools.
In this discussion, what has been taken for granted is that drug use among teenagers is on the rise. But saying for sure it that is indeed the case is far from straightforward.
Small but increasing
The main source of data on drug use in Lithuania is the Department of Drugs, Tobacco and Alcohol Control (NTAKD). The Department commissions population surveys every four years, which is also carried out in other EU countries on the initiative of the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction. A total of five such surveys have been carried out to date.
The most recent survey was conducted in 2021. In it, 14.1 percent of the respondents said they tried drugs at least once, compared to 11.5 percent in 2016. In 2012, the figure was lower than in 2008.
Evelina Pridotkienė, head of the Monitoring and Analysis Division of the NTAKD, presented the results of the surveys and stressed that other studies are also being carried out in Lithuania to take stock of the prevalence of drug use. They include wastewater surveys and the current population hair survey.
Next year, the Department will carry out a survey of schoolchildren to find out what motivates them to experiment with psychotropic substances.
“When we have the whole picture – the population survey, innovative studies, statistics from the Institute of Hygiene, health authorities, crime statistics – we can draw conclusions about how trends are changing, how the government should react,” she said, adding that indeed there are indications that drug use is growing.
She also pointed out that drug use in Lithuania – the share of people who have tried drugs at least once – is half of the EU average.
Meanwhile, the prevalence of drug use among schoolchildren is approaching the EU average. Almost one fifth of the school-age population has tried drugs.
How honest are survey respondents?
Cannabis is the most popular drug in Lithuania, with cocaine and ecstasy lagging quite far behind. In 2021, 13.7 percent of Lithuanians aged 15–64 reported having tried cannabis at least once in their lifetime. The highest prevalence of cannabis use is observed in the 25–34 age group, with one in four among them saying they have tried cannabis at least once.
Although the changes are small, just a few points from survey to survey, the NTAKD says they are statistically significant.
Critics have suggested that the figures are still too low to draw clear conclusions.
Girvydas Duoblys, head of advocacy at the coalition Galiu Gyventi (I Can Live), warns that discussions about drugs are often accompanied by moral panics, and that the problem is therefore not being treated adequately.
“I don’t know if there is a spike in consumption, especially among teenagers. I have one assumption: consumption has always been there, it is slightly increasing. [...] And what is happening now is that there is a new technology, electronic cigarettes, odourless, and because the distributors have not yet learned how to mix these illegal substances, […] teenagers started to drop, to lose consciousness. Adults are watching how students faint, which is leading to moral scaremongering, that this is the end of the world,” he told LRT.lt.
He said that research on drug use must be carried out responsibly.
“I have heard from teenagers that they are often asked about drugs: do you or do you not use drugs, how often. They start to feel that they are being pigeonholed a little bit, and when they fill in the questionnaire, they retaliate by writing that yes, I use, every day, once a week, at weekends. If a survey is responsible, it shows trends, but I wouldn’t talk about completely accurate data,” he warned.
Drug use to grow
Criminologist Gintautas Sakalauskas predicts that drug use in Lithuania will only grow in the coming years.
Lithuania’s drug use statistics are very low compared to most European countries, where drug use is growing. Lithuania is very likely to follow the same trend.
“[Drug use] is bound to increase and it will certainly increase. It is caused by all sorts of social things, greater openness, social problems, whatever else,” the criminologist emphasised.
He believes that drug use will grow regardless of whether Lithuania adopts amendments decriminalising possession of small amounts of drugs.
“It is a form of escape for the modern lonely person with many problems. Whether drugs are legal or illegal is irrelevant,” he stressed.
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