In a study of among Dublin post-primary school-children undertaken by the Irish Cancer Society, the College of General Practitioners, the Economic and Social Research Institute and the Medico-Social Research Board, 2.3% of the sample claimed to have experimented with drugs. Over the age of 16 years 4.9% claimed that they had tried a drug and under the age of 16 it was 1.3%. Marijuana was the drug that was most commonly mentioned, and there was no difference between the proportion of girls and boys who had tried smoking marijuana. Very few had experimented with hard drugs and this small group were chiefly boys. At present the problem of drug usage by Dublin post-primary schoolchildren would appear to be a small one but these children area aware of the current use of drugs to alter mood and suitable steps should be taken to make sure that they understand the dangers of drug addiction.