A fifth of teenagers say that peer pressure leads young people to pretend to take drugs, according to a report from drugs information service Frank.
Boys are twice as likely to say they have taken drugs when they have not and teenagers in the south east are more prone to talking up their behaviour, says the report, which asked more than a thousand 11-18-year-olds about how they present themselves as part of the group they have chosen to belong to.
Three quarters of 11-13-year-olds said that young people try drugs to impress their friends, while 15 per cent of 14-16-year-olds felt that it helped young people to “pull”.
Peter Marsh, director of the Social Issues Research Centre at Oxford and the report’s author, said that people define themselves through social bonds and affiliations.
“During our teenage years we often find ourselves under pressure to conform but also feel the need to strike out and assert our individuality,” he said.
