English Schoolchildren and Illegal Drugs. II. Changes over One Year

Abstract

Part I of this paper described levels of familiarity with drugs of fifth form pupils in 29 schools in England. In Part II, changes in reported levels of drug use over 1 year are described in two sets of pupils. First, changes in drug use reported between a 1973 fourth form group and a matched fifth form group from the same schools 1 year later (follow-up study); and second, differences in reported levels of use between the 1973 fourth form and a matched group of 1974 fourth forms from the same schools (trend study). It is concluded that there was no evidence of any substantial general increase or decrease in familiarity with drugs in the schools studied during the 1-year period of study.