Student Drug Use in America 1975-1981.

This report presents detailed statistics on the prevalence of drug use among American high school seniors in 1981, and on trends in those figures since 1975. The purposes and rationale of the study, the research design and procedures, and the representativeness and validity of the study are discussed in the introduction. Section II provides a brief overview of key findings. Statistics on the prevalence of, and recent trends in, drug use are presented in 12 chapters: a summary across all drugs; marijuana/hashish; inhalants; hallucinogens; cocaine; heroin; other opiates; stimulants; sedatives; tranquilizers; alcohol; and cigarettes. Section IV presents statistics on students' attitudes, beliefs, and the social milieu, including perceived harmfulness of drugs, personal disapproval of drug use, exposure to use by friends and others, and perceived availability of drugs. Section V provides brief synopses of key results from the study which have been published elsewhere. The appendices cover the representativeness and validity of the study, estimation of sampling errors, guidelines for reading and interpreting tables and questionnaire content, and definition of variables. The report includes a reference list. (WAS)