ABSTRACT
This chapter is concerned with drug use and abuse among young people, a topic that has gained considerable importance and attention in the last two decades because of dramatic rises in the use of various illicit drugs. The "drug scene" in the United States has undergone pronounced changes in years, and those changes continue. General concern is with change and stability in drug-related behaviors and attitudes during the transition to young adulthood. In many respects, change in drug-related behaviors and attitudes should be expected. In particular, new immediate contexts emerge during the transition that can alter patterns of use or nonuse of substances. The likelihood of having tried cigarettes, alcohol, marijuana, and other drugs increases with each year of age during adolescence and young adulthood. The changes in marijuana and cocaine use during the 1980s were really quite striking, in part because they were distinctly different from each other.
