The findings were presented at the Croatian National Institute of Public Health (HZJZ) earlier in the week.
The research shows that 54 per cent of students on average smoked a cigarette at least once and 28 per cent said they had smoked in the last 30 days. The countries where about 40% of students smoke include Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, France, Latvia, Monaco and Slovakia, as against only 12% in Albania, Iceland, Montenegro and Norway.
Forty-one per cent of teenagers in Croatia said they had smoked in the last 30 days, ranking Croatia third and far above the European average, said Dr. Marina Kuzman, head of the HZJZ service for school and adolescent medicine and addiction prevention.
Eighty-seven per cent of students on average drank alcohol at least once, 79% did so in the last 12 months and 57% in the last 30 days.
About 75% of students in the Czech Republic and Denmark drank alcohol in the last 30 days, as against only 17% in Iceland or 32% in Albania.
Boys in Denmark drank three times more than their peers in Albania, Montenegro or Moldova. Higher quantities are consumed in Nordic countries and Great Britain, while lower quantities are more characteristic of Southeast Europe.
Some students said they had serious problems because of alcohol use, either in school, with friends, family or the police, most of them in the Czech Republic, Latvia and Slovakia.
In Croatia, 85% of students said they had drunk alcohol - 87% of boys and 84% of girls; 66% did so in the last 30 days - 71% of boys and 61% of girls.
Twenty-four per cent of boys and 48% of girls said they got drunk in the last month, with 59% of boys and 48% of girls said they drank five or more drinks in a row. Kuzman said Croatian students were above the European average according to all alcohol use indicators.
Nearly one-third of students said marijuana was easily or very easily available. Fifty-nine per cent of students in the Czech Republic consider it available, but only 6% in Moldova do so.
An average 18% of students - 21% of boys and 15% of girls - said they took an illegal drug in 2011, including 43% in the Czech Republic, 39% in France and Monaco, but only 6% in Moldova, Serbia and Norway.
Most students tried marijuana, ecstasy and amphetamines. Boys experiment with illegal drugs more frequently thank girls.
According to marijuana abuse, Croatian students are in the European average, with 18% having tried it - 21% of boys and 14% of girls. Seven per cent said they had smoked marijuana in the last month - 9% of boys and 5% of girls.
The ESPAD research has been conducted every four years since 1995. The last one, in 2011, covered more than 100,000 teenagers above 16.