Trends in the use of mind-altering drugs among European adolescents during the Great Recession

•We examine time-trends in drug-use among adolescents during the Great Recession.•We distinguish between licit (inhalants) and illicit (cocaine and ecstasy) drug-use.•The Great Recession was associated with an increase in the use of inhalants.•The Great Recession was associated with a decrease in the use of ecstasy.•Social protection appears to help buffer the association. Despite the growing evidence of health-responses to macroeconomic fluctuations, little research has been carried out on the economic reflexes of licit and illicit drug-consumption, especially among teenagers. This paper uses data on adolescents between 15 and 17 years old from 25 European countries to test, if and how, the substance-use pattern has changed during the Great Recession. The data come from two cross-sectional waves (2007 and 2011) of the European School Survey Project on Alcohol and Other Drugs (ESPAD) (n = 137,989 individuals). One percentage point increase in the unemployment rate is associated with an increase [decrease] in the probability of having tried inhalants and cocaine [ecstasy] at least once, by about 0.005 (95 % CI: 0.004, 0.006) and 0.001 (95 % CI: 0.0001, 0.001) [−0.001 (95 % CI: −0.001, −0.001)] respectively. Social protection expenditure reduces the use of inhalants, whereas ecstasy consumption rises. The pattern for cocaine is unclear.