Prevalence of alcohol and drug use among North Carolina public school students

During spring 1987, North Carolina conducted a drug prevalence survey on a randomly selected, stratified cluster sample of 10,259 seventh-12th grade students enrolled in public schools. The survey assisted in development of new drug prevention programs funded by the Drug-Free Schools Act of 1986. Results indicated alcohol, tobacco, and marijuana were the most commonly used drugs; males and whites were more frequent users than females and blacks; and almost 20% of 11th and 12th grade students reported coming to school drunk in the year preceding the survey. Extensive use of wine coolers and smokeless tobacco was noted. The need is discussed for other states to conduct similar surveys to establish a data base from which better programming decisions can be made.