This survey by the Ministry of Health, released last December, shows a slight generational change, since 6.4% of adolescents in 2016 (the millennials younger) had tried some drug at least once and 3.1% had used it in the last year.
When breaking down consumption by type of substance, another pattern is observed: the drugs that are increasing among adolescents are different from those where consumption grew more among adults.
Cannabis, cocaine and amphetamines
For example, in the last year cannabis consumption decreased from 2.6% to 1.9% among the youngest while it rose from 2 to 2.5% among people aged 18 to 65.
Amphetamine use remained at 0.2% for adolescents from 2016 to 2025, but increased among the adult population from 0.2 to 0.3%.
Only cocaine consumption fell in both groups. In the last 12 months it went from 0.8% to 0.5% among adults and from 0.6% to 0.2% among adolescents.
In addition, the consumption of drugs for medical use grew in general. Adolescents who tried them at some point in their lives increased from 0.6% to 1% and those who used them in the last year increased from 0.4 to 0.5%.
For adults the increase was 1.4 to 2.8% when trying them at least once and 0.5 to 1% in the last year.
Opioid use on the rise
Among the medical drugs that adolescents have used at some time in their lives, opioids and tranquilizers stand out. The former increased from less than 0.1% in 2016 to 0.5%. The percentage of consumption in the last year grew from less than 0.1% to 0.3% among minors between 12 and 17 years old.
Tranquilizers almost remained the same, going from 0.4 to 0.5%. Other medical drugs, such as sedatives and stimulants, remained at a consumption of less than 0.1% in the last year.
The survey, which has not been updated for nine years, also shows an increase in opioid consumption within the population aged 18 to 65 of 1.5 percentage points. It is even higher than that observed in adolescents.
0.1% of adults had tried opioids in 2016 and the proportion rose to 1.6% in 2025. Those who used them in the last year rose from less than 0.1% to 0.8%
