6 things we've learnt about young people in substance misuse services in England in 2013/14

Public Health England have published their annual report on young people who accessed specialist substance misuse services in England in 2013-14.

Here are six things I took from the report:

1. The numbers in treatment (19 thousand in 2013-14) have been falling since 2008-09, but are still higher than a decade ago.
2. Most were over 15 years old, but 1 in 5 were younger.
3. Almost half of referrals come from two sources - Youth Offending Teams and mainstream schools.
4. Cannabis and alcohol remain the two most important substances treated for this age group, but fewer and fewer are presenting with alcohol problems.
5. Most young people got a psychosocial intervention and three quarters were in treatment for less than 26 weeks.
6. Substance misuse was likely to be one of a range of problems for the people who accessed these services.