This study examined differences in the use of and beliefs about drugs, by high school athletes and non-athletes. Data for the study were derived from a representative sample of 10,259 7th through 12th grade students in North Carolina conducted in the spring of 1987. Data reported in the study were limited to 11th and 12th grade students, who are most likely to engage in organized athletics. Of these two grades, 3,328 were student athletes. Results showed student athletes' use of and beliefs about substances were in general more like those of non-athletes than they were different. Athletes' lifetime and 30-day use of marijuana, cocaine, and hallucinogens were the same as that of non-athletes. Athletes' and non-athletes' beliefs about the risks of using five of the seven substances about which they were asked were also similar. However, athletes were less likely to smoke cigarettes than non-athletes. Athletes' use of smokeless tobacco exceeded that of non-athletes. While athletes were no more likely than non-athletes to use alcohol or get drunk over the course of their lifetime, they were significantly more likely to do both over the 30 days prior to the survey. It is also of concern that both athletes and non-athletes gave by far the lowest risk ratings to the two items relating to alcohol use. These results appear to shatter the illusion that, relative to non-athletes, athletes are avoiding alcohol, drugs, and tobacco. (ABL)