Drug use and drinking among students in 36 countries

This article summarizes data on alcohol and drug use from studies of high s chool students in 36 countries. Drug use levels varied greatly among countr ies, but alcohol and cannabis were used most often, followed by amphetamine s, ecstasy, and cocaine. In countries having high levels of cannabis use, t he use of other drugs was also more common but there were no consistent dif ferences for alcohol. Use of various drugs was correlated except for alcoho l use, which was related to cannabis use only when some countries with low alcohol use levels were removed. In general, the studies show that drug use priorities for studies are mainly the same in the countries studied. (C) 2 000 Elsevier Science Ltd.