NCJ Number
171356
Date Published
1997
Length
268 pages
Annotation
Data were collected from middle and senior high schools between 1989 and 1992 to assess cigarette, alcohol, steroid, marijuana, inhalant, LSD, cocaine, crack, heroin, and other drug use among Miami adolescents.
Abstract
The sample consisted of students responding to surveys in randomly selected English classes in Dade County public schools. The racial/ethnic background of students was white non-Hispanic (14.4 percent), black non-Hispanic (30.7 percent), Hispanic (48.8 percent), and other (6.1 percent). The projected population for 76 classes included 2,005 students; 1,690 completed the surveys, for a response rate of 84 percent. Results showed over 42 percent of students had smoked cigarettes. Well over two-thirds of students reported using alcoholic beverages, but only 2 percent used steroids. Marijuana had been used by 16 percent of students, inhalants had been used by 15 percent of students, and 4 percent of students had experimented with LSD. Only 2 percent of students said they had experimented with crack, and about 3.5 percent claimed they had used cocaine. Peers played a major role in the socialization of students; adolescents who had peers who used drugs were significantly more likely to use drugs themselves. Females were somewhat less likely than males to use alcohol, inhalants, LSD, and heroin, although gender differences were not statistically significant. Whites seemed to use drugs at a higher rate than nonwhites. Findings suggest adolescent drug abusers are not engaging in rational cost-benefit analysis when making drug use decisions, adolescents have easy access to drugs, religion inhibits the use of some drugs, family-related factors have an indeterminate effect on adolescent drug use, and school-related factors play practically no role in constraining adolescents. Recommendations to prevent juvenile drug abuse are offered. 216 references and 10 tables