According to data made public today by Carmen Moya, the government official responsible for the National Drugs Plan, the average age for starting to use cocaine here in Spain falls between 16 and 17, and just 13.7 for tobacco and alcohol.

Moya was speaking at the opening of the XV Drugs Convention in Gijón, Asturias, that will be focusing on drugs prevention and plans for the future.

Underlining the 'danger of all drugs', including tobacco and alcohol, Moya warned of the danger of 'trivialising' drugs and drug use.

According to Moya, priority needs to be given to reducing drug consumption and in turn their 'harmful effects' and she emphasised the importance of prevention, in which a million euros of government money has been invested.

'After many years of a progressive increase in drug use', she explained, Spain has now started to see a decline, which goes hand in hand with a greater perception and understanding of the dangers of these substances.

One of the main reasons for this turnaround, it seems, is that the drugs issue is now being tackled from the health point of view, rather than from the point of view of legality and public order.

The Minister for Health for the Principality of Asturias, Ramón Quirós, said that 'the effort was starting to bear fruit', but that there was still much to be done.

When asked about his stance on the legalisation of soft drugs, the minister said that the 'zero tolerance' adopted in certain countries, like the USA, had been shown to be ineffective and that the best option was to make sure that people were properly informed so that they could 'make their own conscious decisions'.