Lukumbat marawana: a changing pattern of drug use by youth in a remote Aboriginal community.
OBJECTIVE
To examine marijuana use by youth in a remote Aboriginal community in Northern Australia over a 5-year period.


METHODS
Participant observation, structured and unstructured interviews.


METHODS
Remote Indigenous Australian community.


METHODS
Young Aboriginal people and adult community members.


METHODS
Emergent themes of the attitudes towards marijuana use among remote Indigenous residents are reported.


RESULTS
Restrictions in the availability of alcohol and petrol have led to increased use of marijuana with serious social and community consequences.


CONCLUSIONS
Efforts to control licit substances, such as alcohol, in remote communities need to be addressed in the context of understanding of the dynamics of alcohol and drug use in totality as well as interventions that address underlying structural and social inequalities.
Senior
Kate
K
Menzies School of Health Research, Casuarina, Northern Territory, Australia. kate.senior@menzies.edu.au
Chenhall
Richard
R
D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior / Q000208:ethnology*; D000328:Adult; D019973:Alcohol-Related Disorders / Q000208:ethnology; D019058:Community Networks; D005260:Female; D015438:Health Behavior; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006303:Health Services, Indigenous / Q000458:organization & administration*; D006801:Humans; D002189:Marijuana Abuse / Q000208:ethnology*; D011793:Queensland; D012931:Social Environment; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors