The article reports on a survey of a random sample of pupils attending post-primary schools outside Dublin city and county. The survey of 5,408 students from 16 schools was conducted between September and December 1981. Information on the availability, use and knowledge of illicit drugs was gathered by means of self administered questionnaires. Some of the survey results were compared with those from a study of Irish rural post-primary school-children dating from 1970/71, and another carried out among Dublin post-primary school-children in 1981. A three- to eight-fold increase in the numbers of respondents who said they had taken a drug was found when the results were compared to the 1970/71 survey, and these students occurred with one-third to one-half the frequency to the Dublin 1980/81 survey. The authors suggested that their findings exposed the need to improve the drugs education available in schools.