Three-year results of prevention programs on marijuana use: the New Hampshire study.
The effects on marijuana use of 1) a drug prevention curriculum, or 2) this curriculum with added parent and other adult community activities in comparison with 3) a control community were investigated. Baseline information on drug-related behaviors from a sample of fourth, fifth, and sixth graders aged nine to fourteen years in rural New Hampshire (N = 1200) were obtained. The children completed these initial questionnaires in classrooms in 1987. In the comprehensive community intervention regular marijuana use was reduced by over 50 percent. No program had a significant effect on the initiation of marijuana use. The predictors of initiation were being in a higher grade, low school satisfaction, poor academic achievement, feeling unloved by one's family, feeling unpopular, and being part of a drug-using peer group. The baseline predictors of subsequent regular marijuana use were poor academic achievement, feeling unpopular, and being part of a drug-using peer group. In interviews the cultural and social contexts of marijuana use were explored. Strategies to prevent marijuana use need to take into account the profile of the marijuana-using child, the adult community's attitudes and beliefs about drugs, and the access of drug sellers and users to children.
Stevens
M M
MM
Dartmouth Medical School, New Hampshire, USA.
Freeman
D H
DH
Mott
L
L
Youells
F
F
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D003256:Community Participation; D003479:Curriculum; D005260:Female; D006266:Health Education / Q000458:organization & administration*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008385:Marijuana Smoking / Q000517:prevention & control* / Q000523:psychology; D010290:Parents; D015397:Program Evaluation; D012307:Risk Factors; D012572:School Health Services / Q000458:organization & administration*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires