ABSTRACT
The importance of the vulnerability of young people is emphasised by progression in our understanding of brain development. The structural changes in the frontal and limbic circuitry during adolescence have been associated with a heightened sensitivity to motivational cues and immediate rewards, as well as an increased likelihood of engaging in behavioural risks, including substance use. The onset of drug use might, therefore, result in a transitory flirt with substances in adolescence, a temporary lifestyle choice, or more serious dependency and comorbid damage, complicated by custody, serial relapse and progression to a lifetime of problems. Risks and protective factors are context-dependent and operate on people taking drugs for a variety of reasons. The new psychoactive substances are, for the most part, drugs that have been synthesised by slightly altering the molecular structure of traditional illicit drugs.
