Alcohol and drug use among youth has been of increased concern to educators, politicians, parents, and students in the past few years. The purpose of this study was to examine the incidence and use of alcohol and drugs in the rural region of northern Idaho and eastern Washington state. A questionnaire was designed to collect demographic information and a variety of opinions, attitudes, and values regarding alcohol and drug use. In addition to a student questionnaire, a parental and school personnel form was developed to assess the same content areas. The instrument was administered to 5,435 junior and high school students. The incidence of drug and alcohol use was compared to national averages. Use levels of drugs in the rural Northwest were generally below national averages. Alcohol was reported to be the most used drug, with only 17.3% of high school seniors surveyed reporting that they never used alcohol. Although 83% of the respondents reported never using marijuana, 3% said they used marijuana daily. Although marijuana, tobacco, and hard drug use appeared to be lower than national averages, alcohol use was similar to the national average, with 82.7% of seniors reporting having tried alcohol. Hopefully, the data will be of use for particular districts and communities as they develop specific alcohol and drug education curricula. (ABL)