The relationship between the perception of alcohol and drug harmfulness and alcohol consumption by university students.

University students find themselves at a stage when many attitudes and habits undergo change and consolidation, and it is during this period when patterns of consumption of toxic substances are partially or definitively established. A group of 955 university students (328 medical students, 347 students of veterinary medicine, and 280 law students) were studied. Sex and religion played a decisive role in determining the relation between the use of toxic substances and the subjects' attitude toward consumption in our sample. Also, the three campuses were found to differ significantly with regard to students' assessment of harmfulness and patterns of consumption.