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The purpose of this research was to study the results of a large scale drug survey of high school students in the context of the baseline data provided by four previous surveys. These surveys were conducted at three-year intervals beginning in 1977. The most recent survey contained self report data from 2,000 students representing fifteen schools in northeast Ohio. The instrument yields information on fourteen categories of drugs. Gender differences in drug use, perceived harmfulness of drugs, and age of first experimentation are reported. No gender differences were found in the reasons students give for turning to drugs. Baseline data from the four previous surveys comprised approximately 8,000 respondents.

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The purpose of this study was to analyze the trends for almost a decade of self report drug survey data collected from high school students. Four large-scale surveys were conducted at three-year intervals beginning in 1977. The four cohort samples consisted of eleventh grade students from area high schools in Northeast Ohio. Frequency of usage, reason for taking drugs, and perceived harmfulness of fourteen categories of drugs are presented. Sex differences in drug use and perceived harmfulness are reported. The most recent survey questionnaire in 1986 also included several questions about smokeless tobacco use. It is important for researchers to be continuously vigilant in the assessment of the drug abuse problem since intervention and prevention strategies follow closely the sociodynamics of age, sex, knowledge of health risk factors, type of drug being used, and reason for taking drugs. The collection of trend data is essential in providing “benchmark” guides for the interpretation of single survey results [1]. Wolford and Swisher have indicated that knowledge of trends is useful in planning and developing drug programs [2].

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