Analysis of legal drugs consumption like alcohol, tobacco and psycho-drugs, and risk perception in university young people

The aim of this study is to relate the consumption of legal substances like alcohol, cigarettes, and psycho-drugs with the perception of risks such like traffic accidents, the suffering of temporary health problems, legal problems, difficulty in the interpersonal relations, decrease of the capacity to realizetasks and irreversible health problems. With a prospective expost-facto design of only one group (Montero & León, 2007), and a questionnaire elaborated from the questionnaire used in the study “Andaluces ante las drogas” (2005), relevant socio-demographic and risk perception information was collected regarding the consumption of different substances in 1011 students of the University of Córdoba. The results revealed university people that generally consume more alcohol, cigarettes and psycho-drugs are those that value with a lower punctuation the possible risks derived from the consumption. Besides, the model of regression for each one of the substances indicated that a low assessment in determined risks can predict a main consumption of these. As a conclusion, given the trends of drugs consumption in university students and the low perception of the risk of its negative consequences, it would be convenient to set up preventive strategies in the university field.