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The purposes of this article are (a) to describe drug search policies in nationally representative samples of schools from 1998 to 2001 and (b) to examine the association between drug searches by schools and reported drug use by students. Most schools (86%) reported searching students for cause or suspicion, while 40% of schools reported randomly searching students. The use of drug searches differed according to school characteristics. For-cause drug searches were positively associated with 8th-, 10th-, and 12th-grade students' 12-month illicit drug use, while random drug searches were associated (positively) only with 10th-grade students' 12-month drug use. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Within the attitude-behavior literature, considerable disagreement exists as to when groups and institutions will influence attitudes, when they will influence behavior independently of attitudes, and when they will influence behavior by interacting with attitudes. By drawing on research on the bases of power, this paper attempts to specify the conditions that create each type of effect. Traditional classifications of the bases of power, however, cannot explain interactions. Attitude-behavior research suggests that interactions result from facilitation power. Facilitation power in part consists of the ability to influence behavior by providing social cooperation or fry altering environmental circumstances. National survey data are used to examine how the bases of power available to schools, religious institutions, and peers influence drug use. The results generally support the hypotheses relating types of power to types of effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this investigation, two indicators of high school educational success (grade point average and college plans) were examined to determine their influence on cigarette, alcohol, and illicit drug use during the transition to young adulthood. Panel data were obtained from the 1978-81 Monitoring the Future nationally representative samples of high school seniors. The sample for this analysis included 3,399 White respondents (weighted cases) followed three to four years post-high school. Structural equation models that included background and mediating characteristics were developed and tested using LISREL VII. Consistent with a selection hypothesis, high school GPA had a negative indirect effect on post-high school substance use that operated largely via senior-year substance use. College plans during high school had a similar negative effect on post-high school cigarette use, but consistent with a differential-socialization hypothesis, they had a positive indirect effect on post-high school alcohol use that operated primarily via student and marital status during young adulthood. College plans had no impact on post-high school illicit drug use. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores alternative explanations for the recent sharp decline in cocaine use among high school seniors, using questionnaire data from annual nationwide surveys conducted from 1976 through 1988. Results show important parallels with earlier analyses of the longer-term decline in marijuana use. Although lifestyle factors (e.g., religious commitment, truancy, evenings out for fun and recreation) show strong links with use of marijuana and cocaine, these factors have not developed trends in ways that can account for the declines in use of either drug. Reported availability of either drug has not been reduced. Instead, increases in perceived risks and disapproval appear to have contributed substantially to the recent declines in use of marijuana and cocaine. The findings provide strong support for the use of realistic information about risks and consequences as an important ingredient in efforts to prevent drug use. Coupled with the findings on availability, the results emphasize the importance of efforts to reduce demand (as opposed to supply). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]