Alcohol and drug use by mentally retarded adults.

Alcohol and drug use have been reported to affect adversely the community adaptation of deinstitutionalized mentally ill persons. Data from ethnographic studies of four samples of community-living mentally retarded persons were presented showing that the majority of these persons used drugs and alcohol rarely or not at all; indeed, they used these substances less often than did their nonretarded parents, siblings, spouses, and friends. Those who did use alcohol or drugs typically did so in socially acceptable ways. Reasons for these patterns of low alcohol and drug use were discussed.