Gender Differences and Similarities in Patterns of Drug Use and Attitudes of High School Students

The purpose of this research was to study the results of a large scale drug survey of high school students in the context of the baseline data provided by four previous surveys. These surveys were conducted at three-year intervals beginning in 1977. The most recent survey contained self report data from 2,000 students representing fifteen schools in northeast Ohio. The instrument yields information on fourteen categories of drugs. Gender differences in drug use, perceived harmfulness of drugs, and age of first experimentation are reported. No gender differences were found in the reasons students give for turning to drugs. Baseline data from the four previous surveys comprised approximately 8,000 respondents.