The paper, based on 4 years of data from the University of Manchester northwest longitudinal study of English adolescent drug use, examines patterns of use of different drugs, differential experiences with these drugs, and characteristics of use and non-use throughout the mid-teens. Current research on the prevalence of illicit drug use identifies an unprecedented rise in such use by increasingly diverse groups of young people of all socioeconomic backgrounds. Along with this transformation in adolescent drug use has been a similar rise in the prevalence of drug use by young adults, concurrent with the dance party or "rave" scene in Britain, linked to the "dance revolution" and to a wider youth culture that reflects an acceptance of drug use by both users and non-users as a part of young people's leisure. This "normalization" of recreational drug use among young people is accompanied by legal, educational, employment, and health implications. Figure, tables, notes, references