Previous research indicates that while frequent heavy drinking among non-Hispanic Whites has decreased over the last decade; Hispanics frequent heavy drinking has remained constant. This provides support for the current mindset that alcohol-related problems are an important public health implication of frequent heavy drinking among the Hispanic population. This study assessed rates of lifetime and current alcohol use among 7th- through 12th-grade Mexican American (Hispanic) and non-Hispanic White students in a two-wave study of alcohol use and alcohol-related problems. The study consisted of 21 high schools and 34 feeder middle schools in the southwestern United States. Highlights of the study findings include: (1) by 7th grade, nearly 1 in 2 students had tried alcohol and more than 1 in 10 had gotten drunk; (2) among 12th graders, nearly a third or 29 percent of both Mexican American and White boys had gotten drunk in the last 30 days; and (3) Mexican American girls reported the lowest rate (15 percent) of getting drunk. The results indicate that alcohol is used regularly by a substantial portion of youth and confirms the pattern of more frequent drinking by White students. References