A sample survey of 712 Iranian youths aged 14 - 18 years, attending secondary schools in the city of Isfahan, indicated that 11% had had experience of drug abuse. The most common pattern was the experimental use of opium, with a minority of users having also used hashish or heroin. No other drugs were reported, but a significant association between the use of opium and of cigarettes and, to a lesser extent, alcohol was observed. However, given a relatively early peak in initiation to opium smoking, it seems that the initiation to the use of cigarettes and alcohol is contemporary with, rather than preceding the initiation to opium. Drug migration patterns described in Western samples and in some areas of South East Asia are not applicable to more traditional societies.