Introduction.

Licit drug abuse is one of the major public health problems at the international and national levels. In Mexico, the 2011 National Addiction Survey reports that 53,9% of adults consume alcohol and 19,9%, tobacco; in Yucatan, the proportion of adults who consumed alcohol was 52,6% and tobacco, 17,7%. The aim of the study was to determine the prevalence and level of knowledge of nursing students of a public university on care for the person who consumes licit drugs.

Method.

Using a quantitative, cross-sectional methodology; with stratified random sampling by semester, and selection by simple random sampling. The CDCCP questionnaire was used to obtain sociodemographic data, as well as the prevalence in alcohol and tobacco. The instrument NEADA α = 0.70 was used to measure the level of knowledge regarding the care of the person who consumes licit drugs. We surveyed 74 students, 56,8% female and 43,2% male; x = 21.14, ± = 2.462 years.

Results.

The prevalence of student consumption was 81,1% of alcohol and 51,1% of tobacco. According to the NEADA, we obtained x = 20.15 points and ± = 2.280 points, corresponding to an average level of knowledge.

Conclusion.

The students had a high overall prevalence of consumption and an average level of knowledge about patient care that consumes legal drugs, suggesting the development of student-directed health programs in order to reduce or avoid the increase of the prevalence of consumption.