Approximately 3 weeks before the questionnaires were administered, motivation sessions were held for classroom groups of 20 to 30 students. Approximately 80 percent of the youths in school for these sessions completed the questionnaires. The structured questionnaires contained items focusing on both legal and illegal drugs. Findings indicated that adolescents progress through several stages of drug involvement: beer/wine, cigarettes or hard liquor, then marijuana, and, finally, illicit drugs other than marijuana. The sequence of drug involvement for both ethnic groups appears to be both unidimensional and cumulative. 6 references (Author abstract modified)