The significantly increasing use of psychoactive substances by the population has caused concern and poses a serious public health threat. Alcohol and tobacco deserve special attention among these substances for being licit and socially accepted drugs. The present paper provides data about the prevalence of alcohol and tobacco use among the students of the Faculty of Medicine of the Federal University of Uberlândia (Famed/UFU), situations that favor the use of these substances, frequency, self-evaluation of the users, and kind of alcohol used. The data were collected from a random sample of 303 students of Famed/UFU, using an anonymous questionnaire. The study indicated that 66.34% of the interviewed students consume alcohol. The use of alcohol increases during the course and is higher among males than among females. Only 3.3% of the students are smokers and 2% are ex-smokers. These numbers suggest a greater awareness of the harm caused by the cigarette than of the harm caused by abusive use of alcohol, where a risk behavior was observed.
Alcoholism; Tobacco; Students, medical; Alcohol Drinking
