Profiles

Here, you can find any of the interviews on this site.



Alex - Interview 24

Alex drinks several nights a week with friends, and occasionally takes drugs under the influence of alcohol. He knows a lot of people who take drugs regularly, especially marijuana (cannabis). He avoids cannabis because he had a bad experience with it when he was about fifteen.

  • Background

    Alex is a first year university student. He drank as a teenager to build his confidence. He found that his drinking habits changed when he started at university.

  • Age at interview 20
  • Sex/Gender Male
  • Ben - Interview 23

    Ben travelled during his Gap Year and started drinking more because it was cheap. He thinks that students drink a lot because they are away from home and their parents. Ben has very occasionally used drugs, always when he has been drinking, and usually at parties. He says that if he had been sober, he wouldn't have taken any, and that it was silly.

  • Background

    Ben is a first year university student who started drinking heavily in his gap year. He has occasionally taken drugs when he has been drinking.

  • Age at interview 20
  • Sex/Gender Male
  • Hugh - Interview 22

    Hugh thinks that when you get to university it is such a different environment, with so many new people, and it is easier to socialise when you're drinking. Sometimes when drunk, he would smoke cannabis with friends and at festivals. He has also tried MDMA.

  • Background

    Hugh is a first year university student who found that drinking at university was very different from drinking as a teenager. Ethnic background; British.

  • Age at interview 20
  • Sex/Gender Male
  • Jamie - Interview 21

    When Jamie was in the Royal Air Force (RAF), he didn't want to risk taking any kind of drugs, for fear of being caught by the random drug testing. At twenty two, and after leaving the RAF, he would smoke cannabis with friends but only occasionally, at weekends.

  • Background

    Jamie lives with his girlfriend, works for an electrical engineering company, and is studying to be an electrical engineer. Jamie thinks that children should be taught, at an early age,...

  • Age at interview 26
  • Sex/Gender Male
  • Jim - Interview 19

    Cannabis was the first drug Jim started taking but he then developed a serious heroin habit. He started shoplifting to support his habit. He wanted help and was given contact details at the police station about methadone treatment. He felt relieved after starting the methadone treatment. He has been on treatment for the last 18 months; has tested drug-free on every occasion and has reduced the amount he takes.

  • Background

    Jim lives with his partner and their baby. He works as a retail assistant. He plans to study and wants to work as a drug education practitioner. Ethnic background: White...

  • Age at interview 23
  • Sex/Gender Male
  • Craig - Interview 18

    Craig rebelled against his diabetes by smoking cannabis and getting into other drugs. He has had DKA (Diabetic Ketoacidosis) several times, mainly because of his use of drugs and alcohol. He said that young people can help health professionals by just being honest.

  • Background

    Craig lives with mum and dad and works part-time in a newsagent. Ethnic background: White British.

  • Age at interview 22
  • Sex/Gender Male
  • Peter - Interview 01

    Peter doesn't distinguish between legal and illegal drugs. He thinks the first substance he tried was alcohol. When drunk he tends to forget what happened and this worries him. He smokes cannabis regularly but his main concern is alcohol.

  • Background

    Peter works full time in publicity. He is single and has one child. White British.

  • Age at interview 27
  • Sex/Gender Male
  • Mary Ann - Interview 16

    Mary Ann and her friends drank to escape boredom, and could only have fun if they were drunk. At sixteen she was introduced to cocaine by her boyfriend but stopped using drugs when she became pregnant. She thinks that turning to drugs and drink will make your problems worse.

  • Background

    Mary Ann lives with her son and wants to work with children. Ethnic background: White British.

  • Age at interview 20
  • Sex/Gender Female
  • Steph - Interview 15

    Steph lived in a supervised shared house with other teenagers who would go out to drink a lot and smoke cannabis a lot. Getting pregnant at seventeen made her more responsible, and so she didn't continue down the road of drink and drugs.

  • Background

    Steph has a four-year-old daughter and has another baby on the way. She lives with her partner. Her mother had a heroin addiction, and Steph was adopted by someone who...

  • Age at interview 19
  • Sex/Gender Female
  • Leah - Interview 14

    Leah started drinking and taking drugs at the age of 14 with friends, and would often turn up to school drunk. At 16 she became pregnant as a result of a drunken one-night stand. Her message to other young people who drink is to be aware of the situations they can get into, and that doing drugs is silly.

  • Background

    Leah lives on her own with her four-and-a-half month old daughter. She gave up drugs after becoming a mother, and only occasionally binge drinks, but never with her daughter. Ethnic...

  • Age at interview 17
  • Sex/Gender Female