More than 1 million young people have used a Class A drug in their lifetime, says a report by the Home Office.

The most prevalent drug of misuse amongst people below the age of 25 is cannabis, says Drug Misuse Declared: Findings from the 2005/06 British Crime Survey ( England and Wales). Over 41.2% of young people have used it more than once a month in the past year.

Cannabis use is closely tailed by amphetamine consumption at 21.6%. Cocaine and ecstasy use are not far behind (22.3% and 16.1% respectively).

Spokesperson for the National Drug Prevention Alliance Peter Stoker believes these figures are misleading. He said: "The number who use more than twice is as low as one in six, with the figures for regular or for problematic use being very much lower than this."

These findings come during a trial period for the UK government. The government initiated its new Drug Strategy in 1998. The Home Office said: "Reducing drug use by young people is a key strand of the government's drug strategy."

To help the government accomplish this, the Talk to Frank campaign was launched in 2003. The proposed aim is to replace the National Drugs Helpline and the "just say no" campaign of yesteryear with a "credible, non-judgmental and reliable source of information about drugs and their effects" for under 25s.

The FRANK helpline received its one millionth phone call in the summer of 2005, says the Frank review 2004-06. In addition, the site has received up to 5.7 million hits between 2005 and 2006. However, Director of Transform Danny Kushlick does not believe these figures are any mark of success. He said: "That could be an indicator of much more people using drugs. It is not an indicator of effectiveness."

One of the aims of the FRANK campaign is to ensure that taking drugs is not seen as the norm amongst young people. Director of Release Caroline Coon strongly disagrees. She sees drug taking among youths as "normal and not deviant"

The UK Drug Policy Commission believes there is a lack of evidence to suggest that programmes that aim to increase drug education amongst young people have any effective impact on future drug use. " Most school-based prevention efforts do little to reduce initiation. Even those programmes that are delivered effectively seem to have very little impact on future drug use," says the report An Analysis of UK Drug Policy by the UKDPC.

Inspector Mark Kelly is Section Commander for an area of very high drug misuse amongst youths East Bournemouth. He said of the Frank campaign: "I can't say it's highly successful. However, if we didn't have it, it'd be an awful lot worse."

 The FRANK website aims to inform young people of the effects of common illegal substances in the UK and provide information about local services to help drug effected or addicted individuals. It can be found at www.talktofrank.com or the FRANK helpline at 0800 77 66 00.