Patterns of substance use on a college campus: a 14-year comparison study

In 1972, a drug incidence survey was conducted at a private southern university. Pooled results of this random survey of 1,032 students revealed that on at least one occasion, 90% of the students had tried alcohol, 70% had used tobacco, and 61% had experimented with marijuana. Use of amphetamines (38%), hallucinogens (28%), barbiturates (19%), and cocaine (10%) was much lower. To evaluate the apparent change in trends of drug usage, a follow-up study was undertaken in 1986 at the same school. The results showed a decline in amphetamine and barbiturate use. The greatest differences were seen in the nearly fourfold increase in one-time use of cocaine between 1972 and 1986 and the sixteenfold increase in students who used cocaine more than 10 times. It was noteworthy that one-third of the students who used marijuana had done so by the 9th grade. Similar early experimentation was noted with a majority of the other drugs.