title: Substance use among high school students in Greece: outburst of illicit drug use in a society under change.
abstract: Trends in self-reported substance use in surveys of Greek adolescent students show that regular tobacco smoking increased in 1998 (20.8%) after having fallen between 1984 (22%) and 1993 (14.6%). Frequent alcohol consumption decreased in 1998 to 12.1%, from around 15% in both previous surveys. A sharp increase was observed in illicit drug use from 6% in 1993 to 13.7% in 1998. Unprescribed use of psychoactive medicines continued to decrease steadily from 53.8% in 1984 to 31.8% in 1998. Perceived availability and risks of cannabis parallel trends in use. Policy measures and recent sociocultural changes seem to influence illicit use.
authors.affiliation: University Mental Health Research Institute, Athens University Medical School, Greece.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kokkevi
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Terzidou
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Politikou
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Stefanis
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior; D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006115:Greece / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D013287:Illicit Drugs; D008297:Male; D011159:Population Surveillance; D011619:Psychotropic Drugs; D012907:Smoking / Q000453:epidemiology; D013334:Students / Q000523:psychology*; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
chemical_list: D013287:Illicit Drugs; D011619:Psychotropic Drugs