Outcome of drug abuse in a 20-year follow-up study of drug-experimenting schoolchildren in Finland

The fate of 119 drug-experimenting schoolchildren who had been interrogated by the narcotics police of Helsinki, Finland, during 1 year, 1971-72, was studied 20 years later. The material was divided in two groups: those with a favourable outcome (n = 49) and those with a poor outcome (n = 70). Ninet een had died. Criteria for poor outcome were death, prison sentence, psychi atric hospitalization, or continuation of crimes. The group with a favourab le outcome was alive, did not have prison sentences or psychiatric hospital izations, and had not been caught by the police after the initial phase of the study. Offences against property in early adolescence and intravenous d rug use were predictive factors for imprisonment, psychiatric hospitalizati on, and death. A poor atmosphere at home and the occupation of the father a s labourer were predictive factors for imprisonment, psychiatric hospitaliz ation, and death for boys. For girls low education was predictive of impris onment and psychiatric hospitalization. Drug use in adolescence is a signal of greater risk for adjustment problems in later life.