Co-occurrence of alcohol, smokeless tobacco, cigarette, and illicit drug use by lower ranking military personnel

The Worldwide Survey of Health Related Behaviors is administered periodical ly to a probability sample of military personnel. Earlier reports of these surveys suggested that illicit drug use was highest among the lowest rankin g personnel. This paper reports a secondary analysis of the 1992 and 1995 s urveys of the lowest ranking personnel. The results suggested that in gener al illicit drug users tended also to use alcohol, smokeless tobacco, and ci garettes. Heavy drinkers were more likely than light drinkers to use illici t drugs. No such relationship was observed between illicit drug use and the level of use of cigarettes or smokeless tobacco. Moreover, among the heavy drinkers, illicit drug users were especially likely to use cigarettes and among males, smokeless tobacco. The relevance of these results to military policies toward illicit drug use is discussed. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Lt d.