in 19831020 undergraduate medical students at the University of the Witwatersrand was surveyed in 1981 as regards attitudes to and patterns of illicit drug use 868 completed the questionnaire; 32,4% had tried dagga (cannabis) and 16,4% were still using the drug. There was a large increase in the number of students using the drug as they advanced through
their studies (6% of the 1st-year class as against 24% of the 5th-year class). The timing of dagga use and previous experimentation with habit-forming drugs· are mentioned, and reasons for non-experimentation· and attitudes towards legalization of dagga are analysed.