Response rates varied between 79 percent (1985) and 88 percent (1981). The use of alcohol was common among young people in the early 1970s, decreased until the beginning of the 1980s, and then increased again beginning in 1983. The use of alcohol had increased among young people in every sociodemographic group and school type in recent years. However, the increase, per capita, of alcohol consumption in Finland has grown in recent years after a long stable period due to an increase in the availability of alcoholic beverages and better economic conditions. The spending money available to young people for their leisure time activities, including alcohol consumption, increased markedly after 1983. The liberalization of alcohol policies in connection with fast economic development had a special effect on alcohol use among young people in the early 1970s and then again in the 1980s. 6 tables, 2 figures, 26 references. (Author abstract)