Young people are increasingly attracted to drugs, taken for the first time at an increasingly younger age. This is also why the number of minors reported for drug-related offenses is increasing. This is stated in the 2024 annual report to Parliament on the phenomenon of drug addiction in Italy. The report highlights "the pandemic spread of drugs, the lowering of the age of first approach and subsequent habitual use, and the increase in the active ingredient, that is, what determines the drugging effect". According to the 2023 data, nearly 960 thousand young people between the ages of 15 and 19 - or four out of ten students - have taken an illegal psychoactive substance at least once in their lifetime, and more than 680 thousand (more than a quarter of the student population) have done so in the past year. During the same period, nearly 360 thousand students under 18 have consumed at least one illegal substance, accounting for 23 percent of schooled minors. Cocaine use is on the rise: nearly 54 thousand 15- to 19-year-olds report having used it.
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