Portuguese Teens Drink Less, Smoke Less, Yet the Most Vulnerable Still Face High Risks

When the latest national health survey on adolescents hit the headlines, many were quick to celebrate a seeming victory against the tide of teenage addiction. The numbers do look brighter: fewer 15‑ to 19‑year‑olds in Portugal are lighting up cigarettes, pulling all‑night binge‑drinks, or trying cannabis than a few years ago.

But let’s not start popping the champagne just yet. The report, released by Portugal’s Directorate‑General for Health, also throws a stark light on a darker truth – the kids who are already struggling the most are still the ones most likely to dip their toes into risky behaviours.

So, what’s really happening? According to the survey, which covered more than 6,000 secondary‑school students across the country, regular smoking fell from 24 % in 2022 to just 17 % this year. Binge‑drinking – defined as five or more drinks on a single occasion – dropped from 31 % to 22 %, while cannabis experimentation slipped from 13 % to 9 %.

On the surface, those figures read like a public‑health triumph. Researchers point to a mix of factors: tighter tobacco‑control laws, stronger school‑based prevention programmes, and, perhaps unexpectedly, the lingering after‑effects of the COVID‑19 pandemic that kept many youngsters at home and away from parties.

Yet, as the study’s authors warn, the overall decline masks a worrying concentration of risk. Teens who report low family support, poor school performance or symptoms of anxiety and depression are still far more likely to use substances – and they do so at rates comparable to, or even higher than, those recorded a few years back.

For example, among students who said they felt “very often” stressed or lonely, 28 % still smoked and 35 % admitted to recent binge‑drinking. Those numbers are roughly double the national averages. In contrast, their peers who described a stable home environment and good mental health reported smoking and drinking rates below 10 %.

What does this tell us? It suggests that while broad‑scale policies are doing their part, they aren’t enough to reach the most vulnerable corners of teenage life. Targeted interventions – like counselling services in schools, community‑based mentorship programmes, and family‑support initiatives – are still urgently needed.

There’s also a socioeconomic angle. The survey highlighted that teens from lower‑income households are still more likely to experiment with cannabis, despite the overall decline. The researchers link this to limited access to recreational activities and higher exposure to peer pressure in neighbourhoods where drug use is more visible.

Health officials aren’t ignoring these gaps. The Ministry of Health announced plans to expand the “Youth Well‑Being Network”, a set of local hubs offering free psychological support, substance‑use education and sport‑or‑art activities aimed specifically at disadvantaged areas.

Meanwhile, educators are being urged to incorporate more mental‑health literacy into the curriculum, something that many teachers say has been missing in the past. “We can’t just talk about saying ‘no’ to drugs,” says one secondary‑school counsellor from Porto. “We have to understand why a kid might feel compelled to turn to alcohol or tobacco in the first place.”

Overall, the picture is mixed. The downward trend in teen substance use is a sign that Portugal’s public‑health strategies are having an impact, but the persistence of high‑risk pockets underscores the need for a more nuanced approach. As the country moves forward, the challenge will be to keep the momentum for the majority while pulling the most vulnerable out of the shadows.

In short, fewer Portuguese teens are drinking, smoking, or trying weed – yet for those battling family strain, mental‑health issues, or poverty, the risk remains all too real. The next steps will require not just policies, but people‑focused programmes that reach where statistics alone cannot.