Drug use in Irish schools: a comparison with other countries.

Depending on what criteria one adopts, the most serious drug problem in Irish schools might be 'cigarettes' or 'alcohol' or one of the illegal substances. In order to decide on the seriousness of a drug problem, it is necessary not only to consider the numbers using the substance, but also to compare the findings longitudinally and cross-culturally. This article reported on a three-phase survey of the reported use of cigarettes, alcohol and illegal drugs by 3,000 randomly-selected second-level pupils aged between 12.5 and 18 years in the Dublin area. Twenty-four post-primary schools were involved, representing the full range of socio-economic backgrounds. A self-administered, anonymous questionnaire was used to gather information. The research results showed that over two-thirds of the sample had smoked a cigarette at one time in their lives, while over one-third had smoked in the previous month, and hence were defined as current smokers. When these findings were compared with other countries, the level of smoking among Irish school-goers was found to be 'extremely high'. With regard to drinking, almost two-thirds of those surveyed reported that they had ever consumed an alcoholic drink, and one-third of the sample said that they had felt drunk at least once. When these rates were compared with other countries, it was found that the levels of drinking in Ireland were mid-way between low-consumption countries like Israel and high-consumption countries like France. Regarding drugs, marijuana and glue or other inhalants were found to be the most frequently misused substances; about 13% of the sample reported that they had tried each of these at some time in their lives. The level of illegal drug use found in the present study, however, was judged to be low when compared with that in other countries

Doubly Illegal: Qualitative Accounts of Underage Alcohol Access Through Theft

This study investigated sources of alcohol for underage drinkers. In-depth, semi-structured interviews were individually conducted with 47 youths, ages 15-18, who reported drinking within the last 12 months, to explore alcohol access. Theft was one method that some youths reported using to obtain alcohol. In addition to 9% of respondents who reported stealing alcohol from commercial outlets themselves, a total of 26% respondents reported occasions when their close friends stole alcohol. Our findings unveiled that teens had a body of knowledge that some drew upon for stealing alcohol. Youths revealed detailed knowledge about store layout, theft protection devices and store policies. In particular, respondents disclosed knowledge about which aisles have blind spots, how to remove security tops on bottles, and nochase policies. Theft of alcohol from commercial sources may be reduced by examining the weaknesses of existing theft prevention practices, and revising store policies

Drug use in Irish schools: A comparison with other countries

They have collaborated on several papers on drug use, attitude formation and research methodology. The present paper is based on the results of a three-phase survey of drug use in Dublin postprimary schools. What is the most serious drug problem in Irish schools in the late eighties? Depending on what criteria one adopts the answer might be "cigarettes", or "alcohol", or one of the illegal substances. What will become clear is that in order to decide on the seriousness of a drug problem, it is necessary to consider not only the numbers using the substance, but also the comparison with other times and other countries, the probability of addiction, the consequences to the individual involved, the effects on others in the family, etc. People value each of these criteria differently, with the result that the grounds for identifying the "size" of a drug problem (if indeed there is a problem at all) are many and varied. Unfortunately, the legal/illegal distinction does not help very much, since by some criteria (e.g. number of deaths caused) the "legal" substances cause most problems. THE DUBLIN SMOKING, ALCOHOL AND DRUGS STUDY The study on which the present paper is based, is a three-phase survey of the reported use of cigarettes, alcohol and illegal drugs by 3,000 randomly selected pupils in the greater Dublin area. Twenty-four post-primary schools were involved, representing the full range of socio-economic backgrounds. About two-thirds of the pupils were from secondary schools and about one-third were from community, comprehensive or vocational schools. As would be expected from such a sample, the vast majority of the respondents range in age from 12.5 to 18.0 years. The survey instruments consisted of self-administered questionnaires in which pupils anonymously completed items relating to their use of, attitudes towards and beliefs about smoking, alcohol and other drugs. The surveys were carried out by trained personnel from the Economic and Social Research Institute and normally the class teacher was absent from these sessions. The students were instructed not to put their names on the questionnaires and the instructions on the questionnaires reiterated the anonymous and confidential nature of the survey. Since the students did not put their names on the questionnaire and since many of the interesting questions involved linking a given respondent's answer at one phase to his or her answers at a different phase, it was essential to devise a method of matching questionnaires across phases. This was accomplished through the use of a self-generated code. Respondents supplied information that was unique to themselves specifically, date of birth, number of older brothers, number of older sisters, and first initial of mother's first name. On the basis of these characteristics, a computer programme matched the files across the phases, thus allowing the advantage of confidentiality, but without the drawbacks. RELIABILITY AND VALIDITY The reliability of the measures was assessed mainly through a measure of the extent to which the subjects' reports of their use of a given substance correlated with their reports at the later testin

Youth daily exposure to tobacco outlets and cigarette smoking behaviors: does exposure within activity space matter?

Aims: To examine whether daily exposure to tobacco outlets within activity spaces is associated with cigarette smoking and with the number of cigarettes smoked by youth that day. Design: The study used geographic ecological momentary assessment (GEMA) data that combined daily surveys with ecological momentary assessment of global positioning systems (GPS) using geographic information systems (GIS) to allow for real-time data collection of participants' environments and behaviors. Setting: Eight mid-sized California (USA) city areas. Participants: The analytical sample included 1065 days, which were clustered within 100 smoker and non-smoker participants (aged 16–20 years, 60% female). Measurements: Any cigarette smoking and number of cigarettes smoked on a given day, the number of tobacco outlets within 100 m of activity space polylines each day, the number of minutes participants spent within 100 m of tobacco outlets each day and demographic characteristics (age, sex, race/ethnicity and perceived socio-economic status). Findings: Controlling for demographic characteristics, the findings of multi-level mixed effects logistic models were inconclusive, whether or not the number of tobacco outlets within 100 m of youths' activity space polylines or the number of minutes spent within 100 m of tobacco outlets were associated with whether the participant smoked cigarettes on a given day [odds ratio (OR) = 1.05, P = 0.24; OR = 0.99, P = 0.81, respectively]. However, in multi-level zero-inflated negative binomial models, the risk of smoking an additional cigarette on a given day increased with each additional tobacco outlet [incidence rate ratio (IRR) = 1.04, P < 0.05] and each additional minute spent within 100 m of tobacco outlets (IRR = 1.01, P < 0.001) each day. Conclusions: Among young people in urban California, differences in day-to-day exposure to tobacco outlets within activity spaces does not seem to be significantly associated with whether a person smokes a cigarette on a given day, but higher exposure to tobacco outlets appears to be positively associated with the number of cigarettes smoked on that day

Reducing Youth Access to Alcohol: Findings from a Community-Based Randomized Trial

Underage drinking continues to be an important public health problem and a challenge to the substance abuse prevention field. Community-based interventions designed to more rigorously control underage access to alcohol through retailer education and greater enforcement of underage drinking laws have been advocated as potentially effective strategies to help address this problem, but studies designed to evaluate such interventions are sparse. To address this issue we conducted a randomized trial involving 36 communities to test the combined effectiveness of five interrelated intervention components designed to reduce underage access to alcohol. The intervention was found to be effective in reducing the likelihood that retail clerks would sell alcohol to underage-looking buyers, but did not reduce underage drinking or the perceived availability of alcohol among high school students. Post hoc analyses, however, revealed significant associations between the level of underage drinking law enforcement in the intervention communities and reductions in both 30-day use of alcohol and binge drinking. The findings highlight the difficulty in reducing youth drinking even when efforts to curtail retail access are successful. Study findings also suggest that high intensity implementation of underage drinking law enforcement can reduce underage drinking. Any such effects of enhanced enforcement on underage drinking appear to be more directly attributable to an increase in perceived likelihood of enforcement and the resultant perceived inconveniences and/or sanctions to potential drinkers, than to a reduction in access to alcohol per se

Lifestyle changes: a social psychological perspective with reference to cigarette smoking among adolescents.

This paper examined the implications of social-psychological influences on smoking behaviour for models of prevention. The main factors associated with initiation to and maintenance of smoking were examined, referring in particular to factors such as normative influences, expectations about consequences, and personality and social variables. Evidence for the effectiveness of prevention models was also outlined