Students in Malta have reported an above average ease of access to most substances of abuse, including alcohol, cannabis, MDMA and cocaine.

They also reported spending more time on social media and playing digital games while they admitted to being at risk of problematic or dependent use.

The 2019 edition of the annual European school survey project on alcohol and other drugs (ESPAD) found that the only substance which students in Malta reported having less easy access to when compared to counterparts from other surveyed states was cigarettes.

The survey, in 35 countries, was answered by 99,647 respondents.

On average, students reported that they spend two to three hours on social media on weekdays and six or more hours on weekends or non-school days. About 60% reported playing digital games within the last 30 days.

Ease of access

Overall, 60% of all respondents said it is fairly or very easy to buy cigarettes. 57% of local respondents said the same. 

As for alcohol, 80% of all students said it is fairly or very easy to buy a bottle of alcohol of their choice, compared to 85% in Malta.

A total of 33% of local respondents believe that cannabis is easy to obtain, one percentage point more than the ESPAD average of 32%. 

Malta was also one of the few countries were girls reported easier access to cannabis than boys. 

The biggest ease-of-access difference between local and all respondents was with cocaine. A total of 13% of all respondents said they could buy cocaine easily, with a fifth (20%) of local respondents saying they could find it without trouble.

Additionally, girls also reported easier access to cocaine than boys in the local context, in another reversal of the generic trend.

MDMA and methamphetamines were also slightly more accessible in Malta; while the ESPAD average for MDMA was 14%, in Malta it was 15%. The ESPAD average for methamphetamine was 8.5%, just 0.3% lower than the Malta average.

Social media, digital games and gambling

Social media usage is higher than average among local students. While a general average of 4.4% said that they did not use social media at all throughout the week, only 2.9% of the local sample said the same.

Half of local respondents also voiced concern about being more prone to dependency on social media, with the average across the board being 46%.

The same applies for gaming; the general average of students saying that they did not play video games at all throughout the week stood at 31%. In the local context, only 22% said the same.

Similarly, 24% of local gamers said that they perceive themselves as being at greater risk of dependency. The average across the board was 21%.

However, students in Malta do not seem to have as much of an interest in gambling. Compared to 33% of respondents in Greece who said that they had gambled money in the last 12 months, only 14% of students in Malta said the same.

Early onset of abuse

In terms of early onset of abuse, local respondents scored positively in some areas when compared to their peers. 

While 18% of all respondents, aged 13 or younger said they had smoked cigarettes, less than 7.6% of local respondents said they had done the same.

However, pre-teen alcohol use remains an issue. More than a third (34%) of local students admitted to having tried alcohol aged 13 or younger, just above the 33% average. 

A total of 6.3% of them also admitted to experiencing intoxication aged 13 or younger. This was slightly lower than the 6.7% ESPAD average.

Furthermore, 40% of local students said they had at least one episode of heavy drinking over the last 30 days, with an average of seven occasions during which alcohol was consumed.

In comparison, the worst-scoring country was Denmark, where 59% of students said they binge-drank over the past 30 days. German students admitted to having at least eight social occasions in 30 days in which they consumed alcohol.

Trends, variations of use

On a generic note, a growing trend of lifetime, current or daily use of nicotine was observed. 

When one factors smoking ‘traditional’ cigarettes together with electronic cigarettes, 54% reported 'lifetime' use (at any period during one's life), 27% reported using within the last 30 days, and 12% reported doing so daily.

An overall general increase in lifetime and current use was also registered in terms of cannabis consumption.

As for new psychoactive substances such as synthetic cannabinoids, about 3.1% admitted to a lifetime prevalence of abuse. An average of 7.2% of all respondents reported lifetime prevalence for inhalant use.

Pharmaceuticals being abused for intoxication varied greatly across responding countries, ranging anywhere between 2.8% to 23%. Local respondents reporting lifetime abuse standing at 5.9%.

In general, lifetime use of any drugs in the local context is at about 12% lower than the 17% average reported across all countries. Local cocaine users report a 2% average of lifetime usage, slightly higher than the general 1.9% average.

The full report can be read here.