THE number of young people using drugs has increased by 50 percent since the end of the lockdown.
Figures show that a third of 16 to 25-year-olds, about 2.6 million, admitted to illegal medicine in the past year.
That was a 22 percent increase in 2021.
Class A, first class drug use rose from 11 to 17 percent and once-a-week drug use increased from 16 to 23 percent.
And the number of drug addicts nearly tripled from five to 14 percent.
Charity The Mix surveyed 2000 young people.
Deputy chief executive Zoe Bailie said: “The spike we have seen is extremely worrying and also preventable.”
Figures show drug-related deaths in England and Wales hit a record high of 4,859 last year.
It was the ninth consecutive annual increase, according to the Office for National Statistics.