El consumo de drogas en estudiantes de México: tendencias y magnitud del problema

Introduction. Drug use and its social and health consequences are subject of interest. Students’ surveys are epidemiological strategies to monitor this problem, and they are complemented with household and specific population surveys. All this can show in advance some phenomenon that later is visible in general population. Besides drug use trends and patterns, these studies show the influence of other factors that may increase the drugs use and their consequences. Objective. To know the drugs, alcohol and tobacco use prevalences in elementary (5th and 6th grade), middle and high school students (7th-12th grades) of Mexico and its States. Material and methods. This survey is a probabilistic elementary-high school students’ survey with national and statal representativity. The study sample had 52 171 elementary students and 114 364 middle and high school students. The information was obtained with a previously standardized and validated questionnaire. Results. The lifetime tobacco use was 30.4% and the average onset age was 13.4 years old. 53.2% has drunk alcohol and 14.5% has binge drinking. Any drug use lifetime prevalence is 17.2%. The preferred drugs are marihuana (10.6%), followed by inhalants (5.8%) and cocaine (3.3%). Discussion and conclusion. The increase in drugs use, specially of marihuana and alcohol, highlights the importance of creating new prevention strategies focused to decrease their use rate among students.