One in four secondary school students has gambled with money in the last year

BarcelonaSports betting, cards, and roulette are the most common forms of gambling among young Catalans, especially boys. In fact, it is increasingly common for secondary school students, that is, teenagers between 14 and 18 years old, to gamble. Last year, for example, 17% of students participated in in-person gambling, although the percentage among boys rises to 24.5% due to the marked gender gap observed in this practice. This is one of the key findings of the latest survey on drug use in secondary education (ESTUDES), conducted by the Catalan Health Department to understand the consumption habits and addictive behaviors of young Catalans.

Given the increase in gambling among secondary school students in recent years, Luisa María Conejos, Deputy Director General for Addictions, HIV, Sexually Transmitted Infections, and Viral Hepatitis, explained to ARA that it is a behavioral addiction. In fact, the survey shows that 5.3% of students may have problem gambling, the highest figure since records began in Catalonia, and again, the situation affects boys more than girls. "Behaviors linked to gambling are appearing with increasing frequency. It is one of the main addictive behaviors among young people, and we must put more effort into prevention," Conejos emphasized.

In fact, she announced that the department is already working on developing a new plan for drugs and behavioral addictions that addresses the needs of the new generations of young people. While tobacco and alcohol consumption remain the leading addictive behaviors among adolescents, there has been a slight decrease compared to previous years. However, Conejos emphasizes that these rates remain high and that further work is needed. For example, one in five students has smoked in the last year, and half of those surveyed have consumed alcohol in the last month, highlighting the high accessibility of these substances among minors. Although binge drinking has reached its lowest levels since 2000 among young people, Conejos insists that it remains a significant public health problem. The same is true for tobacco; although consumption has decreased, 3.5% of students smoke daily, and e-cigarette use remains high. The average age of initiation into various substance use and behaviors remains between 14 and 15 years old, and Conejos argues that it is necessary to delay it "as much as possible," since many of these substances have a direct impact on human development. "Alcohol destroys the protective layer of neurons, having a direct impact on decision-making, impulses, and learning processes," he warns.

Change in consumption patterns

Last year, 16.2% of students used cannabis, a 22.8 percentage point decrease compared to 2006, when the figure was 39%. The prevalence of use in the last month and daily use have also improved, a reduction that Conejos attributes to the specific work carried out by the department. "It exploded as a consumption trend, and many preventative campaigns have been implemented to increase risk awareness among young people," says the Deputy Director General of Addictions, HIV, Sexually Transmitted Infections, and Viral Hepatitis. A slight decrease in the use of hypnotics and sedatives has also been observed, after reaching peak levels in 2023. However, in 2025, 6.4% of girls and 3.2% of boys were using them daily. For all these reasons, the department points to a possible shift in consumption patterns among younger generations. This change is characterized by a slight decrease in substance use and an increase in leisure activities linked to the digital world. Video games, for example, remain a widespread practice among students, with a prevalence of 84.9%, and students in Catalonia spend an average of 4.8 hours a day on the internet for leisure during the week and 6.7 hours on weekends. Pornography viewing has decreased compared to the previous survey, but still, one in three young people has consumed it in the last month. To monitor all this data, the department plans to launch the Catalan Observatory of Addictions (OCA), which will also allow for the evaluation of the impact of policies to prevent problematic substance use among the population. In fact, Conejos is proud of the various prevention programs they have implemented in recent years and argues that they have contributed to reducing the number of young Catalans who use substances.