The present paper is primarily concerned with the attitudes of young people towards drug use and availability, and drug education and support services in North Belfast. It is based on research carried out in four communities, and involved focus group discussions and a short survey with 180 people aged between 12 and 70 years. The paper reveals that, in many ways, young people in North Belfast are responding to the increasing availability of drugs in their communities much as young people have done elsewhere in Britain and Ireland, by experimenting with a wide range of drugs and at an ever earlier age. However, the paper also focuses in some detail on the attitudes of young people to those statutory bodies with responsibility for drug education and support, the schools, social services, police and general practitioners, and reveals that these are felt to be failing young people and parents in almost every way. The statutory bodies are regarded with fear, cynicism and hostility rather than being viewed as a valuable resource that can be turned to in times of need. The paper concludes by briefly reviewing arguments made by respondents for greater community input into the development of drugs education and support programmes to ensure they are made more effective in meeting demands and needs on the ground. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]