Excluded and Ignored: The gaps and failings in research on youth drug use and the implications for harm reduction Maria Phelan International Harm Reduction Association

Introduction Examine what we know about Youth drug use Examine methodology used to capture this data Impact ‘War on Drugs’ Discourse

What we know about youth drug use High levels of Cannabis use Increase in ecstasy and amphetamine use Cocaine use rarer – but on the rise

Limited and incomplete data Incomplete global picture Incomparable data Focus on frequency rather than harm

School based surveys Benefits Cost effective Large numbers of participants Comparable data Limitations Practicality Provide a ‘big picture’ Depersonalisation

Alternative survey methods Street based surveys Harm reduction service providers

‘War on Drugs’

Recommendations Improve data collection from low and middle income countries Ensure vulnerable young people are captured in data collection methods Break the cycle of the ‘War on Drugs’ discouse

Acknowledgments Order from: and other fine bookstores Cook, C & Fletcher, A (2011) Youth Drug-Use Research and the Missing Pieces in the Puzzle: How Can Researchers Support the Next Generation of Harm-Reduction Approaches? In D. Barrett (ed) Children of the drug war: perspectives on the impact of drug policy on young people. New York and Amsterdam, International Debate Education Association, iDebate press. May 2011 (Forthcoming)