Drug use in West Flemish schools is rising again

In 2022, for example, another 40 incidents involving drug use at school will be recorded. After a drop in the corona period, those figures are rising again. CD&V Member of Parliament Franky Demon: “The figures show that drug possession among young people remains a problem, also in West Flanders. During the corona years, more distance education was followed and we saw about a halving of the findings, but that figure is now recovering. We are also seeing more and more 15-year-olds with drugs. Previously, drug possession was mainly situated among 16 to 17 year olds.”

East Flanders is at the forefront

East Flanders usually has the highest number of findings, followed by Limburg and Antwerp. “So we cannot say with certainty why there are more findings in these provinces. We do see in the figures that Antwerp (16%), Limburg (18%) and East Flanders (17%) together account for 51% of the registrations. This puts them head and shoulders above the other provinces,” explains Demon.