ABSTRACT
The research was undertaken as part of an effort to continue to monitor drug-taking behavior by Alaskan youth. This research is the second study in Alaska reporting on drug use and related information on youth in grades 7–12. It was designed to obtain information on the use or nonuse of drugs ranging from legal, socially sanctioned drugs for those of legal age, to illegal and unsanctioned drugs, such as marijuana, cocaine, stimulants, hallucinogens, depressants, inhalants, heroin, and tranquilizers, taken for social or recreational purposes. A self-administered questionnaire was used to get information about use or nonuse of drugs. The questionnaire used in Nome involved changing individual questions about use or nonuse of drugs into matrix form. The instrument demonstrates sufficient content validity to assure that it adequately assessed use or nonuse of drugs, and the nature and extent of drug use by students reporting having tried a drug.
