[Relationship between alcohol, drug use and traffic accidents related to nightlife among a Spanish youth sample in three autonomous communities in 2007].

Background: The phenomenon known as binge drinking and other drug abuse frequently occurs among young people in nightlife-related areas. This study analyzes the risk behaviours and the accident rate related to alcohol and other drugs among a sample of young people involved in nightlife.

Method: A total of 440 young people from 3 Spanish Autonomous Communities took part.

[Alcohol abuse by young people in Spain].

Although the overall consumption of alcohol is falling in Spain we have, for years, been seeing an increase in alcohol consumption by the young. This has taken the form of episodes of drunkenness or quantities of alcohol being drunk within a few concentrated hours to reach a certain level of drunkenness, what the Anglo-Saxons call "binge drinking". The most typical name for this phenomenon -although not the only one- is the botellón which is, in fact, no more than one of the expressions to describe drinking alcohol in the nighttime recreational spaces at the weekend.