Spare time feeds drug takers' addictions

By Li Xinran  |   2008-6-24  |     NEWSPAPER EDITION

PEOPLE with more free time face a higher risk of becoming drug addicts, said the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences.

A survey on 730 drug users found most addicts had more than six hours of daily free time, while 141 of them had over eight hours for leisure.

One-third of the respondents said they attended at least 10 parties a month.

The survey challenges the traditional attitude that youngsters from single parent family or divorced family are more likely to use drugs. It found more than 75 percent of the interviewees had both their parents and got along well with them. Only 6.6 percent of the interviewees reported being from a single parent family.

There were no obvious links between drug taking and family economic status, said Xia Guomei, a researcher at the academy.

Parents from both rich and poor families may spend most of their time making a living and don't have enough time to take care of their children, which might push their children to seek stimulation to kill spare time, according to Xia.

The survey found friends were more likely to affect a youngsters' behavior, as it said 470 drug addicts got their first dose from a close friend.