System of Early Detection and Prevention of Alcohol and Drug Dependence in Secondary Schools in the U.S.S.R. (From Research, Action, and the Community: Experiences in the Prevention of Alcohol and Other Drug Problems, P 144-146, 1990, Norman Giesbrecht, Peter Conley, et al., eds. -- See NCJ-128273)

• NCJ Number: 128290
• Author(s): A A Glazov; M E Kuznets; A A Poluboyarinov; M G Tsetlin
• Date Published: 1990
• Length: 3 pages
• Sale Source: Superintendent of Documents, GPO; National Institute of Justice/; NCJRS Photocopy Services
• Publication Type: Survey
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: Paper presented at the Symposium on Experiences with Community Action Projects for the Prevention of Alcohol and Other Drug Problems, March 1989, Scarborough, Ontario, Canada

Annotation

A total of 1,500 students in the Soviet Union were surveyed to assess the extent of alcohol and other drug use in secondary schools and to develop a drug prevention program.

Abstract

Data were provided by students, parents, teachers, social workers, and the military. The survey questionnaire contained sections on demographic and social factors; the frequency and quantity of alcohol use; the type and prevalence of other drug use; and attitudes of students, parents, and friends toward psychotropic substances. Results indicated that 70.4 percent of technical school students used alcohol. Of these students, 83.8 percent used alcohol only on holidays, 8.2 percent used alcohol at least once a month but less than once a week, and 8 percent used alcohol at least once a week. Technical school students typically began using alcohol at 14 to 15 years of age and preferred low-alcohol drinks. Ten percent of the adolescents used drugs at least once in their lives, and most tried drugs for the first time in the company of others. Students indicated their preference for using drugs either by inhalation or injection. A program was initiated to identify students inclined to use psychotropic substances. Students from a high-risk group underwent obligatory examination by an addiction specialist, and in the case of alcohol and other drug dependence, students received medical treatment. Adolescents whom specialists did not consider prime candidates for special treatment were individually supervised by teachers. The drug prevention program appeared to stabilize the number of school adolescents using psychotropic substances. The importance of disseminating information about alcohol and other drugs to students, parents, and teachers is stressed as well as the need for collaboration among educational, health, law enforcement, and social agencies and for the provision of psychological services in educational institutions.