14 DAY TRIAL // A comparative study, conducted on 15- and 16-year-olds in 36 European countries and the United States, demonstrates that the former are more likely to smoke and drink, whereas the latter are more prone to abusing illicit substances.
A total of 100,000 European students took part in this study. Data on American kids were taken from the “Monitoring the Future” study of 10th graders, conducted by experts at the University of Michigan, in 2011.
On average, 54 percent of European students consumed alcohol 30 days prior to the investigation, twice the rate of reported US consumption. Smoking rates were at 28 percent for the EU, and 12 percent for the United States, PsychCentral reports.
France and Monaco had the highest cannabis use rate (24 and 21 percent, respectively), followed by the US, at 18 percent. However, the European average for illicit drug use was 7 percent. At the same time, US children were found more likely to consume drugs other than marijuana, including LSD and painkillers.