Introduction: According to the World Health Organization, licit and illicit drugs when used have the ability to change the processes of consciousness, mood and thinking through your acting mechanism in the brain, which regulate mood, functions of thought and motivation. Research has shown high levels of drug use among students of medical school, which constitute alternatives to psychological problems caused by the stressful routine of a full-time course, which requires changes in lifestyle and in the acquisition of greater responsibility. Objective: To describe the prevalence of licit and illicit drug use in students of medical school to a private college in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Method: This subset study is part of an observational study with cross-sectional delineation performed on a sample from the first to the sixth year of medical students. The first stage of the study was designed to obtain data to prepare a socio demographic characteristics and evaluation of quality of life in these students. The data was collected from an anonymous questionnaire. Results: We evaluate 490 students: 84 (17.1%) of the first year, 119 (24.3%) of the second, 100 (20.4%) of the third, 66 (13.5%) of the fourth, 85 (17.3%) of the fifth and 36 (7.3%) of the sixth year. The average age was 21.7 years (16-42), 314 (64.1%) of female gender. In the total group, the percentage of alcohol consumption was 81.6%, there is no statistical significantly difference between the genders (81.3% male and 81.8% female) or between the basic cycles of first and second year course x internists from fifth and sixth years (79.3% x 80.8%, respectively). The consumption of illegal drugs found a percentage on the total group of 13.9%, with significant differences in both comparison groups (p < 0.001), 22.2% in male x 9.2% female gender and 12.8% basic cycle x 5.8% boarding school cycle. Conclusion: A sizable percentage of students reporting use of licit and illicit drugs, underscoring the increasing prevalence of alcohol use among women in the general population, especially the worrying percentage of use of illicit drugs among students. This underscores the need for strategies of University managers in implementing policies to reduce and control the consumption of drugs.