The population of the Valencian Community is the one that starts drinking earlier and consumes the most alcohol in all of Spain, followed by Aragon and Asturias, while Extremadura is, by far, the community with the most regular cannabis users, followed by the Canary Islands.
This is clear from the Survey on Alcohol and Other Drugs in Spain (Edades 2024) that the Government Delegation for the National Drug Plan presented this week, and that maintains alcohol, tobacco and cannabis as the three psychoactive substances preferred by Spaniards.
The largest radiography of the evolution of drug use in our country reveals hardly any changes in the case of alcohol, which continues to occupy the first place with a stable prevalence, but it does in the case of tobacco, which has fallen to its minimum in 30 years, while cannabis is the only consumption that has increased.
There are notable differences by sex -they present higher figures in all the substances analyzed in this study, except for hypnotics- but also by communities.
Castilla y León, leader in drunkenness
Three quarters of the population aged 15 to 64 (76.5%) has drunk in the last year, 63.5% in the last 30 days and 10.5% has done so daily.
The first contact with alcohol occurs on average at 16.4 years, but in the Valencian Community it is brought forward to 15.7, in Navarra to 15.8 and in Asturias and Cantabria to 15.9; while, in Melilla it is delayed to 17.7, in Ceuta to 16.9 and in Madrid to 16.8.
From there, the percentage of the population that has tried this substance at some time in their life exceeds 90% in all the autonomous communities except in Andalusia (88.9%), the two autonomous cities (63.9% in Melilla and 73.1%) due to the "strong influence" of Muslim culture, and Navarra (89.9%). In the first places, the Asturian (97.5%) and the Valencian (97%).
In the last year, 89.1% of Valencians have drunk, followed by Aragonese and Asturians (83% and 82.9%, respectively); at the other extreme, beyond Ceuta and Melilla, is Andalusia (69%).
Valencians also lead frequent consumption, so that 76.8% have drunk in the last month compared to 56.9% of Andalusians.
However, the Valencian Community registers one of the lowest figures for drunkenness in the last 12 months (11.9%), only surpassed by Madrid (9.3%).
It is the population of Castilla y León that has experienced the most acute alcohol intoxications in the last year (26.4%), 12 points more than the national average, which is 14.3%, followed by that of the Basque Country (23.8%).
Castilla-La Mancha, the most premature with cannabis
This 2024, two thirds of citizens (66.6%) have smoked at some time, 36.8% in the last year, 33.9% in the last month and 25.8% daily. These are the lowest figures since there are records.
The average age of initiation into the smoking habit is 16.6 years, but this range goes from 15.8 years in Extremadura to 17.3 years in Melilla or 17 in Madrid.
Among those who have smoked at some time, the communities with the highest percentages are Asturias (81%) and the Valencian Community (78%).
But if frequent consumption is taken into account, the one with the highest prevalence is, by far, Extremadura: 48.8% of its inhabitants have smoked in the last month and 41.7% do so every day, more than double that in Cantabria (18.5%) or Navarra (19.7%).
Similarly, Extremadura is, "by far", the community that has the most cannabis users in the last year (23.1%) and almost doubles the national average, which is 12.6%. It is followed by the Canary Islands (16.1%) and Aragon (15.6%), while the lowest figures are presented by Madrid (9.7%) and Andalusia (10%), in addition to the autonomous cities.
The initiation into the most consumed illegal drug in Spain occurs at 18.4 years, but where it is done at a more premature age is in Castilla-La Mancha (17.7) and Extremadura (17.9). In the Balearic Islands and Castilla y León they wait until 19.
