Alcohol and drug use, perceived health, and involvement in violent behavior were examined among Mexican-American and White dropouts. The sample consisted of 114 Mexican-Americans and 67 White-Americans who had recently dropped out of school; comparison subjects matched for ethnicity, gender, and grade in school; and "at-risk" comparison subjects matched for ethnicity, gender, grade, age, and grade point average. Subjects were 13-20 years old, from grades 6-12 in a large city, a midsized community, and a small rural town in the Southwest. Dropouts, particularly White males, had the highest rates of alcohol and drug use, followed by at-risk controls. This was true for nearly all drugs, but dropout-control differences were particularly large for getting drunk and for using marijuana, uppers, and cocaine. Smoking differences between dropouts and controls were significant only for males. Among males, both dropouts and at-risk controls were more likely than the other controls to have engaged in violent behavior or to have been beaten up badly. Among females, there were few differences related to violence, although Mexican-American females were less likely to be victimized than White females. Females reported more health problems than males, and White female dropouts reported more recent serious illnesses than White female controls. The results suggest that dropouts may have many more problems than those caused by failure to complete high school. (SV)