Drug Use Among Secondary School Students, New South Wales, 1992

This survey is the fourth in a triennial series started in 1983 to monitor trends in drug use among secondary school students in NSW. The objectives of the survey series are; to provide reliable data on prevalence and other aspects of student drug use, to monitor patterns and changes in the prevalence of adolescent drug use and to evaluate the effectiveness of drug education initiatives and social policy. The survey consisted of three parts; the core section was completed by all respondents and the tobacco section (group A) and alcohol and legislation section (group B) were each completed by approximately half the respondents. The core section included demographic information such as age, year at school, area of residence, household members, parents' country of birth and language spoken at home. It also included prevalence items for nine groups of drugs; the substance types covered were alcohol, tobacco, pain killers (analgesics), cannabis, inhalants (solvents and aerosols), sedatives, stimulants, hallucinogens and narcotics. The tobacco version consisted of questions relating to the messages of the 1992 Rock Eisteddfod and the 'hook' ad campaign, frequency of tobacco use, significant others that smoke, ways of obtaining cigarettes, attitudes about smoking, quitting smoking and lessons on smoking at school. The alcohol and legislation version consisted of questions relating to attitudes about alcohol, obtaining alcohol, penalties for buying alcohol and cigarettes underage, perceived likelihood of being caught buying alcohol and cigarettes underage and attitudes towards obtaining cigarettes and alcohol illegally.