Bulgarian Kids Smoking ‘Above EU Average’

Bulgarian students are more often drunk and smoke a lot more than the majority of their European fellows.

The European school and research project on alcohol and other drugs 2007 survey report was presented on late Thursday.

The survey showed that 24 percent of students in Bulgaria have tried illegal drugs with the prevalence rates for cannabis (22 percent) and other drugs (9 percent) both being close to the European average.

Smoking is an area for concern as 40 percent of Bulgarian students had smoked within a 30 day period before the survey, which is way above the European average.

Alcohol abuse is also prevalent amongst Bulgarian youths with 45 percent of school students reporting being drunk at least once a year, which is again above the EU average.