Cross-national comparisons within regions have been conducted in Europe [19–22] and in Panama, Central America, and the Dominican Republic (PACARDO) [23]. Efforts to collate existing survey data on alcohol and tobacco use (and abstention) have been undertaken through the WHO's Global Status Report on Alcohol [24] and the Tobacco or Health: Global Status Report [25]. Recently, the Global Youth Tobacco Survey (GYTS) [26] and a cross-national survey known as the Gender, Alcohol, and Culture: an International Study (GENACIS) [20], included population surveys of tobacco or alcohol use in selected populations in multiple countries. None of these, though, examined alcohol, tobacco, and illegal drug use concomitantly, in all regions, and across all ages.
