Drug abuse trends among German youth

Data of drug consumption in Baden-Würtemberg, Bavaria and West Germany are presented for the period 1967 to 1977. Two different indicators (representative surveys, and overdose deaths and apprehended illicit drugs) are compared. It can be stated that Germany is now in the third development stage of drug consumption characterized by a decentralizing drug scene and the concentration of a hard core of drug users. More than one-third of the hard core contact physicians three times and then move on. This relationship in particular should be analyzed more deeply in the future.