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AIMS: This article reports the results of a population survey in autumn 2004. First, trends in drug use are studied by comparing the 2004 data with materials collected in the same way in 1992, 1996, 1998 and 2002. Secondly, the relationship between drug use and alcohol consumption is discussed. This latter aspect is of special interest in Finland today following the changes in the alcohol environment in spring 2004 (tax cuts on alcohol, the discontinuation of the import quota within the EU and from Estonia). If alcohol consumption increases, the question is will that have the effect of driving up the consumption of other substances (addition hypothesis) or on the contrary, will drug use decrease and be substituted by increased alcohol consumption (substitution hypothesis)? METHODS: The data for the research were collected in a postal questionnaire in autumn 2004. A random sample of 3992 persons aged 15-69 was drawn from the central population register. A total of 2526 persons responded, giving a response rate of 63 per cent. In order to gain a clearer picture of the relationship between drug use and alcohol consumption, we have linked the data for 1998, 2002 and 2004 into one dataset comprising more than 7 000 respondents. RESULTS: The tendency for drug use and experimenting to increase has slowed down since the turn of the millennium. The increase in alcohol sales and tourist imports is not driving up the level of drug use. However, this study lends support to the observations by Juha Partanen (Wet high (1994)) about the close links between drug use and alcohol consumption. In the urban life-styles of younger people the use of cannabis is interwoven with frequent clubbing and party-style drinking patterns. Another indication of the intertwining of drug and alcohol cultures is found in the group of mixed users, who not only drink heavily but also use various drugs and medicines. It would seem that the risk of drug use is increased by the early onset of binge drinking. CONCLUSION: There is as yet not enough evidence to confi rm the addition hypothesis. However, given the close links of drug use with alcohol consumption, it certainly is a possibility that if alcohol consumption sharply increases, this might trigger an increase in drug use and experimenting, particularly among young people. The substitution hypothesis, on the other hand, does not seem very likely. On the contrary, it seems that drug use in Finland ties in rather closely with drinking to intoxication.

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