Around 2.6 million young people used an illegal drug in past year, charity finds
At aged 13, Nathan had already started dabbling in drugs.
“I was quite young, started smoking weed with other kids at school. But as the year went on I progressed to harder drugs, class As and all the rest of it.
“It just got really messy,” Nathan explained.
Soon, he would be saving up lunch money to score drugs, and using them in the bathroom while his peers were studying in class.
Nathan, now 20, partly blames the music scene for the exposure after witnessing open drug use while gigging as a teen.
But it soon escalated.
“As I progressed outside that scene, I’d be taking, crack, heroin, whatever else I could get, basically,” he said.
Nathan is now clean and has been for more than 17 months.
He realises now that his drug use was never about partying or having fun with friends, instead he used them to cope and self-medicate to avoid the pain life threw at him.
He added: “It was really a lot of hopelessness. What is the point in this? I didn’t like how I was feeling, and I didn’t know how to word what I was feeling either.
“Instead, it was like this is what I’m going through, and I don’t want to share it. That’s when the harder drugs started.
“It was like, well, I will take this one, and I haven’t got to feel anything.”
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Nathan was one of the lucky ones, he was supported by a charity which addressed his mental health needs, and now has a circle of friends also in recovery, providing a much-needed support network.
But there is fear that for far too many, getting access to drugs is much easier than getting access to mental health services.
‘Extremely worrying’ spike in young people using drugs
According to youth charity The Mix, there has been a 75% increase since 2021 in young people using substances to escape problems in their lives, with one in five users doing just that.
A similar number of young people use substances to help them cope with a mental health issue or emotional distress.
In addition to that, the charity has found a total of one in three young people (aged 16-25) have used an illegal drug in the past 12 months, which equates to around 2.6m people and a 50% increase on last year.
One in three young people have used an illegal drug in the past 12 months, which equates to around 2.6 million people, The Mix says
Over the last 12 months, 17% of young people have used a class A drug within the past 12 months, equating to 1.3 million young people and a 54% increase on last year.
“The spike we have seen in the number of young people facing challenges with substance use in the past year is extremely worrying, and we believe it’s also preventable,” said The Mix’s deputy chief executive Zoe Bailie.
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Ms Bailie highlights the difficulties many young people face when trying to access mental health services across the country, and says this needs to be more accessible to help those in need.
She also highlights the stigma often attached to drug use, and says this can often mean young people are afraid to ask for help, out of fear of judgement.
Ms Bailie added: “We also need to do more to highlight the support that is available, ensuring that it’s accessible before a young person becomes dependent on drugs as a way to cope with life’s problems.”
Prince Harry has lost his legal challenge over the level of security he receives when he is in the UK.
The ruling was handed down by Judge Sir Geoffrey Vos at the Royal Courts of Justice in central London on Friday – following the two-day appeal hearing at the same court last month.
He told the court that while the Duke of Sussex‘s safety concerns were both “powerful and moving”, his “sense of grievance” did not “translate into a legal argument”.
“The conclusion, in my judgment, with which my colleagues Lord Justice Bean and Lord Justice Edith agreed, was that the Duke of Sussex’s appeal would be dismissed,” he said.
Prince Harry, 40, was challenging the original decision by High Court judge Sir Peter Lane in February 2024 that the Executive Committee for the Protection of Royalty and Public Figures (Ravec) was right to downgrade his high-level police protection for when he is back in the country.
Ravec, the body responsible for the security of high-level figures, made their decision in February 2020 – after Harry and Meghan stopped working as senior royals and went to live in Canada and later the US.
Harry, who was not present for the judgment, received full, publicly funded security protection up until that point.
The Home Office, which has legal responsibility for Ravec’s decisions, said security decisions were now taken on a “case-by-case” basis.
The Duke of Sussex outside the Royal Courts Of Justice during the two-day hearing. Pic: PA
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After stepping back from royal duties, the duke argued that his private protection team in the US no longer had access to the UK intelligence information needed to keep his wife and children safe.
During the appeal hearing in April, which he travelled to the UK to attend in person, his barrister Shaheed Fatima KC said his safety, security, and life were “at stake”, and that the “human dimension” of the case should not be forgotten.
She said Harry believed he was “singled out” for “inferior treatment” and that Ravec did not follow its own “terms of reference” when making their decision.
But Sir Geoffrey said on Friday: “The duke was in effect stepping in and out of the cohort of protection provided by Ravec.
“Outside the UK, he was outside the cohort, but when in the UK, his security would be considered as appropriate.”
Therefore, Ravec’s decision was “understandable and perhaps predictable”, he told the court.
The duke could now take the case to the Supreme Court, but he would have to prove there is public interest in the case being heard there.
Legal commentator Joshua Rozenberg told Sky News after the judgment: “What the Supreme Court will look at is whether this is a case of general public interest. It seems to me it’s one of very, very specific importance to Prince Harry.” Therefore, he “wouldn’t hold out much hope”.
UK
Comedian and actor Russell Brand bailed after appearing in court charged with rape and sexual assault
Russell Brand has been granted bail after appearing in court charged with sexual offences including rape.
During the brief hearing at Westminster Magistrates’ Court, the 49-year-old spoke only to confirm his name, date of birth, and address, also confirming to the judge that he understood his bail conditions.
Russell Brand outside Westminster Magistrates’ Court. Pic: Reuters
Brand, who has been living in the US, was charged by post last month with one count each of rape, indecent assault and oral rape – as well as two counts of sexual assault – in connection with incidents involving four separate women between 1999 and 2005.
The allegations were first made in a joint investigation by The Sunday Times, The Times and Channel 4 Dispatches in September 2023.
The comedian and actor did not say anything as he entered the court
The comedian, actor and author has denied the accusations and said he has “never engaged in non-consensual activity”.
Appearing before Senior District Judge Paul Goldspring, Brand stood to confirm his name and address. He then sat down while the charges were read to the court.
Brand surrounded by media. Pic: Reuters
Brand is charged with the rape of a woman in 1999 in the Bournemouth area. She alleges that after meeting Brand at a theatrical performance and chatting to him later in her hotel room, she returned from the toilet to find he’d removed some of his clothes. She claims he asked her to take photos of him, and then raped her.
The court also heard of another of Brand’s alleged victims, who has accused him of indecently assaulting her in 2001 by “grabbing her arm and dragging her towards a male toilet” at a TV station.
Brand is accused of the oral rape and sexual assault of a woman he met in 2004 in London. He is accused of grabbing her breasts before allegedly pulling her into a toilet.
The final complainant is a radio worker who has accused Brand of sexually assaulting her between 2004 and 2005 by “kissing” and “grabbing” her breasts and buttocks.
Brand leaves court. Pic: Reuters
The judge referred the case up to the Crown Court – informally known as the Old Bailey.
Brand was asked to supply both his US and UK addresses to the court.
When asked if he understood his bail conditions, he replied, “Yes”.
The case was adjourned and Brand, of Hambleden, Buckinghamshire, was told he must appear at the Old Bailey on 30 May.
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