Current tobacco, alcohol, marijuana, and cocaine use among high school students--United States, 1990.

Patterns of tobacco, alcohol, and other drug use usually are established during youth, often persist into adulthood, contribute substantially to the leading causes of mortality and morbidity, and are associated with lower educational achievement and school dropout. This report presents selected data on current use of tobacco, alcohol, marijuana, and cocaine among 9th-12th grade students from two components of the Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System: 1) the 1990 national school-based Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) conducted during April-May 1990 and 2) similar surveys conducted by departments of education in 22 states and four cities during the same time period.