Statewide Survey of Drug and Alcohol Use Among California Students in Grades 7, 9, and 11, Winter 1985-1986

• NCJ Number: 103910
• Author(s): R Skager; D Fisher; E Maddahian
• Date Published: 1986
• Length: 81 pages
• Corporate Author: California Office of the Attorney General Crime Prevention Ctr
• Sale Source: National Institute of Justice/; California Office of the Attorney General Crime Prevention Ctr; NCJRS Photocopy Services
• Publication Type: Survey
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: Report to the Attorney General

Annotation

A survey of about 7,500 secondary school students in California during the winter of 1985 and 1986 found that illegal substance use was the norm for the 11th grade students.

Abstract

The school sample was proportional, random, and regionally stratified. Random samples of 25 percent of the 7th, 9th, and 11th graders were asked to complete anonymous questionnaires. All respondents spoke English. They answered questions about the use of 17 psychoactive substances, age at first use, perceived harmfulness of substances, parent and peer attitudes, sources of drugs, reasons for using or not using, and experience with school prevention education. Beer was the substance most used. Wine and hard liquor were used more than marijuana, which was the most popular nonalcoholic drug. Twenty percent of 11th grade students used beer weekly or more often. Twelve percent reported polydrug use at least once per month. By age 12, 58 percent of seventh graders had tried alcohol and 16 percent had been intoxicated. Students rated marijuana as more harmful than alcohol. Thirty percent of the 11th grade students were highly resistant to the use of alcohol and drugs. Regional and racial differences, data tables detailing other findings, appended study materials, and a description of the survey's weighting procedures.