Structure of Drug Use and Drug Definition among Youth

Abstract

Five thousand West-German soldiers anwered a questionnaire on personal drug use, evaluation of substances regarding their being drugs, and illness-value ascribed to heavy drug use. A partial correspondence between the structures of drug use and drug definition was found. Beer and wine consumption were clearly differentiated. Mentally, cannabis and hard liquor were placed on comparable levels. A wholesale approach to alcohol consumption, and exclusive categorization of cannabis as a fashion drug, lumped together with hallucinogens and opiates. seem unwarranted.