[Follow-up examination of former recruits regarding their alcohol, tobacco, drug and medicine consumption].

On behalf of the Swiss Federal Commission Against Alcoholism, 1103 former military recruits were surveyed in 1979 with regard to consumption of alcohol, tobacco, and illicit and psychotropic drugs. The men had been surveyed for the first time with regard to the same factors when under military training in 1972-73 (Battegay, Mühlemann et al.). With regard to alcohol consumption, the 1979 results showed a larger number of consumers than in 1972/73, i.e. an increase of 6.1% from 88.5% in 1972/73 to 94.6% in 1979. In 1979 the men, aged approximately 26 years, in the main (73.8% of subjects) mentioned only low alcohol consumption (10-150 g alcohol 100% a week). Heavy consumption of alcoholic beverages (greater than 350 g alcohol 100% a week) was indicated in a lower .e. an increase of 6.1% from 88.5% in 1972/73 to 94.6% in 1979. In 1979 the men, aged approximately 26 years, in the main (73.8% of subjects) mentioned only low alcohol consumption (10-150 g alcohol 100% a week). Heavy consumption of alcoholic beverages (greater than 350 g alcohol 100% a week) was indicated in a lower .e. an increase of 6.1% from 88.5% in 1972/73 to 94.6% in 1979. In 1979 the men, aged approximately 26 years, in the main (73.8% of subjects) mentioned only low alcohol consumption (10-150 g alcohol 100% a week). Heavy consumption of alcoholic beverages (greater than 350 g alcohol 100% a week) was indicated in a lower number of cases than in 1972/73. In 1972/73, 6% of the men, aged approximately 20 years, indicated this level of alcohol consumption, compared with 3.2% in 1979. With regard to tobacco consumption, no major changes were found between the two investigation periods. The proportion of nonsmokers had risen from 43.8% in 1972/73 to 46.4% in 1979, whereas the proportion of heavy consumers (more than 24 g tobacco a day) remained almost unchanged at 13% in 1979 against 13.5% in 1972/73. There was a major fall in the number of drug consumers. In 1979, 85.8% said they had been drug abstainers since 1972/73. In 1972/73, only 75.2% had said they had never taken drugs. The fall in the number of subjects who consumed drugs can be explained by a reduction in the number of "drug experimenters" (1--8 drug intakes) in the period from 1972/73 to 1979 compared with the years before 1972/73. The number of those reporting more than 48 drug intakes remained virtually unchanged (1.6% in 1979 against 1.3% in 1972/73).