[Drug abuse among high school students in Hamar in 1999].
BACKGROUND
The prevalence of drug use among young people in Norway is probably changing. Cannabis use in towns is gradually spreading out into the countryside, and newer drugs like ecstasy are introduced. We explored the situation among high school pupils in a small Norwegian town in May 1999.


METHODS
A questionnaire was administered in the classroom to 62 classes with a total of 1,002 pupils, 79% of all high school pupils in the town. Anonymity was guaranteed by an elaborate and unique system.


RESULTS
1,001 pupils answered all questions regarding drug use. 40% were tobacco users, 26% drank alcohol weekly, 26% had tried cannabis and 5% used it monthly, 4% had tried amphetamine, 2% had tried ecstasy, 1% had tried heroin/cocaine. A logistic regression analysis demonstrated that "tried cannabis" was strongly associated with one of five best friends using cannabis, smoking, school, weekly use of alcohol, sexual debut and sex with same gender. More girls tended to smoke tobacco, boys used more alcohol and cannabis.


CONCLUSIONS
Compared to data from 1991, the use of cannabis had increased from 8% tried in 1991 to 25% in 1999; monthly use had increased from 2% to 5%.
Rekve
Runar
R
Institutt for Allmenn- og samfunnsmedisin Universitetet i Oslo Postboks 1130 Blindern 0317 Oslo. rekve@online.no
Lindbaek
Morten
M
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D019973:Alcohol-Related Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D002189:Marijuana Abuse / Q000453:epidemiology; D008385:Marijuana Smoking / Q000453:epidemiology; D009664:Norway / Q000453:epidemiology; D015995:Prevalence; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires