[Personal problems related to illicit drug use in dropouts compared to students]

The consumption of psychoactive drugs and the personal problems related to substance use were evaluated among school dropouts and students. Results obtained from a self-administered questionnaire among 435 school dropouts were compared with those obtained in a previous study among 3,212 students. Drug consumption is significantly higher in school dropouts than in students. The proportions of male or female youths who report personal problems related to drug use increase progressively among the consumers of cannabis, hallucinogens, solvents and cocaine for each of the two groups. Moreover, the proportions of school dropouts or students who mention difficulties with psychotropic drugs vary inversely with the percentages of users for these products. These results suggest that the identification of the drug type represents an index for the frequency of personal problems related to drug use, and that adolescents at risk form small groups of consumers.