NCJ Number
134528
Date Published
1991
Length
211 pages
Annotation
Annual surveys of representative samples of high school seniors in the United States from 1975 to 1990 focused on the use of 11 separate classes of drugs and found that 1990 continued the gradual decline in the proportions involved in the use of any illicit drug and the widespread occurrence of occasions of heavy alcohol drinking.
Abstract
High school dropouts were not included in the surveys. The results revealed that little illicit drug use is initiated by the 6th grade, although at this age some 19 percent had initiated cigarette use and 11 percent had consumed alcohol. The peak initiation rate for marijuana and inhalants was reached by the 9th grade. Ninety-percent of high school seniors had tried alcohol, and 32 percent had consumed 5 or more drinks in a row at least once in the prior 2-week period. Initiation of daily smoking occurred most often in grades six through nine, with 19 percent daily smokers. Smoking was more than two times as prevalent among noncollege-bound students as among college-bound students. Findings indicated that despite improvements in recent years, high school students and other young adults have greater involvement in illicit drugs than in any other industrialized nation and that heavy drinking and cigarette smoking are also significant concerns. Tables, figures, footnotes, and appended estimates adjusted for absentees and dropouts. For Volume 2, see NCJ-1345290.