Lessons Learned
What
Beer represents the most frequently offered alcoholic beverage and marijuana is the controlled substances which was most often accepted or refused. Of the controlled substance offers, few were of substances other than marijuana (predominantly cocaine but also amphetamines and quaaludes). Excluding tobacco, on average, 50% to 70% of adolescents the middle school samples had been offered alcohol or another drug. The largest number of acceptances is for alcohol. Two-thirds of the time an offer of alcohol is accepted, but when the offer is of another drug, it is accepted less frequently.
White adolescents are more likely to be offered cigarettes, followed by Latino/as, and Black adolescents. Latino/as were most likely to report an offer of beer, wine, or hard liquor, followed by Whites, and then Blacks. Latino/a and Black adolescents are more likely to be offered marijuana than White adolescents. Hard drugs are more likely to be offered to Latino/as than to Whites or Blacks. Finally, Latino/a and White adolescents are more likely to be offered inhalants than Black adolescents. These studies suggest that Latino/as are most likely to be offered drugs, with the exception of cigarettes, which were most likely to be offered to White adolescents.