Smoking, Drinking, and Illicit Drug Use Among American Secondary School Students, College Students, and Young Adults, 1975-1991: Volume 1, Secondary School Students

• NCJ Number: 140645
• Author(s): L D Johnston; P M O'Malley; J G Bachman
• Date Published: 1992
• Length: 246 pages
• Grant Number(s): 3-R01-DA-01411
• Sponsoring Agency: National Institute on Drug Abuse
• Corporate Author: University of Michigan
• Sale Source: Superintendent of Documents, GPO; National Institute of Justice/; NCJRS Photocopy Services
• Publication Type: Survey
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

A nationwide survey of students in 8th, 10th, and 12th grades gathered information on their use of tobacco, alcohol, and illicit drugs during 1991.

Abstract

Results revealed a continuation of the longer-term gradual decline to 29 percent in the proportion of youths using any illicit drug during the past year. The use of cocaine and crack declined in 1991, and the annual prevalence of marijuana use fell to the lowest level since the surveys began in 1975. Use of LSD remained constant, while PCP use fell sharply. In contrast, alcohol use remains widespread, and 30 percent of high school seniors reported consuming five or more drinks in a row at least once in the prior 2-week period. Males were significantly more likely than females to be involved in heavy drinking. Some 28 percent of seniors smoked cigarettes in the month before the survey, and 19 percent were daily smokers. Nineteen percent of noncollege-bound students and 7 percent of college-bound students reported smoking half a pack or more per day. By eighth grade, 70 percent of youths reported having tried alcohol, and 27 percent said they had been drunk at least once. Figures, tables, and summary of survey results for college students and young adults