Among young Canadians problem drinking is often of the infrequent, high volume variety. Although consumption rates rise considerably with age, reported problems do not. Reported problems tend to consist of acute distress, such as nausea and hangovers or interpersonal problems with friends. Friends are the dominant drinking companions for young people and a significant amount of consumption occurs in bars and taverns despite legal age restrictions. Among those under 20, less than one fifth smoke daily and there is little difference between men and women.
Young men are more likely than young women to be lifetime abstainers.
There is an extremely low rate of medication use by young people. The two most frequently reported types of potentially addictive medications used by young people are diet pills or stimulants and codeine, Demerol or morphine. Use of other illegal drugs is rare in the general youth population. Because the use of alcohol and other drugs varies with age, each age group presents unique problems for survey design and analyses. With respect to young people, the following issues and problems are particularly relevant.