tat for the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES). Data were collected in telephone interviews with 6,504 students in grades 6 through 12.Availability of Alcohol, Marijuana, and Other Drugs at SchoolThe availability of alcohol, marijuana, and other drugs at school is a major contributing factor to the school learning environment and to students' opportunities to use these substances. Students were asked how difficult it wouldbe for them to get alcohol,/1/ marijuana, or other drugs at school if they wanted to obtain these substances. Their responses indicated whether drugs were very easy, fairly easy, hard, or nearly impossible to obtain. Table 1 shows the percentages reporting that various substances were very easy or fairly easy to obtain at school. About 30 percent of U.S. students in grades 6 through 12 reported that alcohol and marijuana were easily available at school, while fewer students, about 20 percent, reported that other drugs were easily available at school.Differences in Student Reports of Alcohol, Marijuana, and Other Drug Availability at School by School and Student CharacteristicsStudent reports of the availability at school of alcohol, marijuana, and other drugs increased between middle school/junior high school and high school. Students in the 6th through 8th grades were less likely than students in grades 9 and 10 or 11 and 12 to report that alcohol, marijuana, and other drugs were available at school. Reports of easy availability from students in the upper grades were two to three times those of students in the 6th through 8th grades (table 1 and figure 1). For example, less than 20 percent of the 6th through 8th graders reported easy availability of alcohol or drugs at school, while about 40 percent of the students in the upper grades reported easy access to alcohol and marijuana and 30 percent reported easy access to other drugs.Students in public schools were twice as likely to report easy access to mar...
