[The consumption of tobacco, alcohol and noninstitutionalized-use drugs by middle-school students of Terrassa].

BACKGROUND

Because adolescence is the stage during which most people begin their drug use, we wanted to investigate adolescent's use of and attitudes towards drugs. This paper aims to describe prevalence of students (14-18 years old) drug use in the city of Terrassa (Spain) for the school year 1994-1995.

METHODS

A school survey was carried out for a representative sample of 1,269 students. A questionnaire was developed following W.H.O. guidelines. It includes information on demographic characteristics, legal and illegal drug use, information and attitudes towards drugs, and other related factors.

RESULTS

Thirty seven percent smoked within the last 30 days, and 60% drunk alcohol. Thirty-two percent had been drunk at least once. Cannabis was the most widely used drug (25.9%) followed by hallucinogens (7.2%), tranquillizers (4.4%), inhalants (4.3%), amphetamines (4%), cocaine (1.7%) and heroin (0.2%). The prevalence for the use of cannabis within the last 30 days was 11%, and around 1% for the use of all other drugs within the same period of time. Increased drug use was observed with age. No differences among sexes were observed for prevalence of tobacco and alcohol use, although boys showed a more intensive pattern. For the other drugs, higher prevalence was observed in the male population except for tranquillizers whose use was more prevalent among women.

CONCLUSIONS

The high prevalence of drug use observed, suggest the need to introduce more extensively programs for the prevention of drug use, beginning in primary school.