[Use of psychoactive substances among private school children].

A study was carried out in 1988, using a random sample of 1,441 pupils attending the elementary and high schools of the Federal District, Brazil, with the purpose of determining the frequency of the use of alcohol, tobacco and other drugs. A self-administered questionnaire, adapted by the World Health Organization for this type of survey, was applied. The prevalence of general usage (covering everything from experimental to daily use) showed rates of 67.2% for alcohol, 28.7% for tobacco, 13.9% for inhalants, 6.1% for marijuana and 1.8% for cocaine. The use of the majority of drugs increases with age. As regards sex, the illegal drugs were mostly frequently used by boys.