Drug use in Chilean school population ranging from 8th grade basic education to 4th year middle school, 2003

Abstract

Drug use in Chilean school population attending from 8th grade basic education to 41h year middle school during the year 2003 is analyzed. 17ze information corresponds to the Fifth National Study on Drug Use in Chilean School Population, 2003. It was detected that the rate of recent use of any illicit drug in the group studied was 13.66%, of which 94% concentrates on students using marihuana. Thee rate of recent alcohol or cigarette consumption reaches 61.15% and 51.54% respectively. Males present a higher recent use of illicit drugs than females, although they only surpass the latter by 3% in marihuana; nevertheless, the recent uses of freebase and cocaine are in a 2:1 ratio. The tendency r4 use in the 2001-2003 biennium, according to the tendency of the last year, registers a decrease in the use of marihuana and cigarettes. The availability of drugs and the low perception of risk favor thee use of these substances.