title: Risk-taking behaviour of Cape Peninsula high-school students. Part V. Drug use.
abstract: The prevalence of a wide range of risk-taking behaviour among high-school students in the Cape Peninsula, South Africa, was investigated. In this article, the results for drug use are presented. Cluster sampling techniques produced a sample of 7,340 students from 16 schools in the three major education departments. A self-administered questionnaire was completed in a normal school period. Estimates for each education department were weighted to produce an overall estimate. Cannabis was the illicit drug most widely used; 7.5% had smoked cannabis, and 2.4% had done so in the previous 7 days. A small subgroup (1.6%) of students had smoked cannabis and methaqualone (Mandrax) together. Reported lifetime use of injectable drugs was 0.5%, and 10.9% had sniffed solvents, 2.6% having done so in the previous 7 days. There were different trends according to gender, standard, and language(s) spoken at home. Of particular note was the small proportion of Xhosa-speaking females who were involved with drug use. The results suggest that the majority of drug use among school students is experimental. A small number of adolescents abuse drugs and are at risk for its associated problems; intervention is indicated for this group.
authors.affiliation: Centre for Epidemiological Research in Southern Africa, Parowvallei, CP.
authors.forename: A J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Flisher
authors.forename: C F
authors.initials: CF
authors.lastname: Ziervogel
authors.forename: D O
authors.initials: DO
authors.lastname: Chalton
authors.forename: P H
authors.initials: PH
authors.lastname: Leger
authors.forename: B A
authors.initials: BA
authors.lastname: Robertson
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior; D002188:Cannabis; D004522:Educational Status; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007802:Language; D008297:Male; D008702:Methaqualone; D015995:Prevalence; D012997:Solvents; D013019:South Africa / Q000453:epidemiology; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
chemical_list: D012997:Solvents; D008702:Methaqualone