VENEZUELAN STUDENTS AND DRUGS: OPPORTUNITY AND USE

• NCJ Number: 141691
• Author(s): H R Williams
• Date Published: Unknown
• Length: 46 pages
• Publication Format: Document
• Publication Type: Survey
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: Draft, revised version of paper presented at the 44th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Criminology, November 1992

Annotation

Data from high school students in Venezuela were used to test a model in which drug involvement occurs in a progressive pattern, with most persons having used alcohol and tobacco before experimenting with marijuana or using it regularly.

Abstract

The research used completed questionnaires from a national survey that included responses from 6,500 male high school students. Discriminant analysis was used to determine the variables that predicted classification of several steps in the model. Experimental and repeated use of alcohol, tobacco, and marijuana were defined as six steps in the progression. In addition, the opportunity to use marijuana was included as a logical step in the model. The results were generally similar to studies conducted with students in the United States and other industrialized countries and suggest qualified support for the model. Including opportunity to use marijuana as a logical step demonstrated that factors that have been identified as predictors of marijuana use are more accurately defined as predictors of opportunity. Tables, notes, and 35 references (Author abstract modified)