At the end of ten years' implementation of the law of 10 January 1991, known as the "Evin law", the preliminary results of the first national survey conducted across the whole of the French school community were presented on the occasion of world "No Smoking" Day on 31 May 2002.
Since 1995, the French monitoring center for drugs and drug addiction (OFDT), has been assigned the task of publishing a regular report on the state of the phenomenon of drugs and dependence.
The fourth edition of this report provides a clearer picture of the extent and complexity of the drug problem, how it has evolved over the past few years, and the measures implemented. The aim of this document is to put all the available knowledge into perspective.
Levels of use of alcohol, tobacco and psychotropic drugs do not come within the same context and do not even have the same history. However these three substances have at least two points in common: their use is legal and they are the only psychoactive products still used beyond the age of 60 years.
Sport is often associated with positive values in terms of health, well-being and social integration. Advertisements aimed at prevention of drug use sometimes present sport as an alternative.
The survey, whose results are shown here, was carried out within the context of the Journée d'appel de préparation à la défense (JAPD, Roll Call Day of Preparation for Defence) established by the October 28th, 1997 law (pertaining to the French National Service).
Since 1997 the OFDT has set up a perennial device based upon national general population surveys for observing drug-related uses, behaviours, and opinions.
The French population perceptions and opinions concerning drugs and drug addiction have been studied through a general population survey carried out in April 1999 (the EROPP survey).
The French Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addictions (OFDT) is publishing the third edition of its report, "Drugs and Drug Addictions - Indicators and Trends".
The analysis of perceptions and opinions of the general population toward drugs should be considered a helpful tool in decision making.
In this report, a multi-disciplinary attempt to synthesize available data and analyses on drugs and drug addiction has been made, in order to avoid the usual over-segmented approaches taken in this field.