Cocaine Use among High School Students in Six South American Countries

Résumé 0

"Objectives: To compare lifetime and past year prevalence estimates of cocaine use amongsecondary school students in six South American countries. Methods: Data are from the 2009Inter-American Drug Abuse Control Commission (CICAD) and United Nations Office on DrugControl Policy (UNODC) collaborative study on drug use; with national representative samplesof over 170,286 secondary school students in Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Peru, and Uruguay.Results: Cocaine was the second most commonly reported illicit substance used followingmarijuana in Argentina and Uruguay, and was the most common illicit substance followingmarijuana and inhalants in the other four countries surveyed. Past year use ranged from ahigh of 3.5% in Uruguay to a low of 1.1% in Peru. Conclusions: Cocaine prevalence shows aworrisome pattern among high school students in South America. Rates in Argentina, Chileand Uruguay are close to the United States and Canada. This analysis provides evidence tosupport the notion that cocaine use is a problem in South American countries, particularlyamong those that have no known history of cocaine production. Implications for drug policy,health among teenagers and education in Latin America are discussed."