Three surveys provide comprehensive coverage of the use of drugs, alcohol, and tobacco by American youth, as well as their attitudes about using these substances. The surveys presented in this chapter include:

• Monitoring the Future National Results on Adolescent Drug Use: Overview of Key Findings 2003 and Monitoring the Future National Survey Results on Adolescent Drug Use 1975-2003, Vol. 1: Secondary School Students 2003. Prepared by the Institute for Social Research of the University of Michigan for the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), the annual Monitoring the Future survey tracks the use of drugs, including alcohol and tobacco, among students in the eighth, tenth, and twelfth grades. It is considered an authoritative source on drug use among students. In all, approximately fifty thousand students in about 420 public and private secondary schools complete the self-administered questionnaire each year.
• PRIDE Questionnaire Report: 2003-2004 National Summary, Grades 6 through 12. In addition to asking about substance use, the annual PRIDE (Parents' Resource Institute for Drug Education) survey also questions students about when and where they use the substances, how hard the drugs are to obtain, and what other risk behaviors are present, such as violence, poor grades, and weapon carrying.
• Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance—United States 2003. In addition to asking about the use of alcohol, tobacco, and illicit drugs, the biennial Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance, published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), reports on other types of risk behavior, such as violence at school, weapon carrying, and sexual conduct.

These three surveys collect self-reported data—that is, behavior reported by the students themselves. Therefore, the data should be used as indicators primarily to identify perceived prevalence trends and patterns of use.