Data from the 1993 National Household Survey on Drug Abuse indicated that blacks and Hispanics had a higher prevalence of past-month marijuana and cocaine use than either white non-Hispanics, or Asian/Pacific Islanders. However, the prevalence of past-month alcohol, heavy alcohol, and cigarette use were higher for white non-Hispanics than for other groups. Overall, alcohol continued to be the drug most often used by all groups, followed by cigarettes and then by marijuana. Hispanics ages 18-25 years had higher drug use than Hispanics in all other age categories. A possible explanation for the higher prevalence of marijuana and cocaine use among Hispanics than among whites or Asians is the perceived ease of obtaining drugs in their communities and their perception of the prevalence of drug-dealing activities in their communities. Data from the Monitoring the Future survey indicated that the youth at highest risk for using drugs were Hispanic eighth graders. Findings also indicated that the prevalence of alcohol and other drug use is rising for all three racial/ethnic groups. Further data indicate that youth who had used marijuana and cocaine in the previous 30 days had consistently higher patterns of risk-taking behavior than youth who had not used marijuana. Negative consequences of alcohol and drug abuse include fatal and nonfatal overdose, HIV infection and AIDS, and other sexually transmitted diseases. Recommendations for further research, figures, tables, notes, and 16 references (Author abstract modified)