Reports the results of a study of 1,325 young adults aged 24 to 25, to investigate the relationship between patterns of drug use and job separations. The relationships observed between job mobility and drug use support the general hypothesis that drug use predicts job turnover and decreased tenure on the job. (JDH)

Conducted an economic evaluation of five outpatient adolescent treatment approaches (12 total site-by-conditions) to identify average economic costs to society. Results suggest that some types of substance-abuse intervention for adolescents can reduce social costs immediately after treatment. (SLD)

Study compared marijuana urinalysis results to self-reported marijuana use from 33,313 juvenile arrestees surveyed through the Arrestee Drug Abuse Monitoring Program (ADAM) between 1991 and 1997. While strength of agreement between the two measures varied by jurisdiction, intrajurisdictional agreements were consistent over time. Findings suggest…

Study reports trends among high school seniors in number of tickets or warnings received, number of vehicle accidents, and number of these events occurring after use of alcohol, marijuana, or other illegal drugs. Despite decline in the number of accidents and tickets received after drinking or drug use, aggressive policies are still needed to…

A fuzzy set model is offered for interpreting vague frequency expressions, such as "rarely" and "sometimes." Results with 152 undergraduates reporting marijuana use reflect different frequency expressions for the same level of use and suggest that self-report validity may be enhanced by analyzing frequency expressions as fuzzy…

Although students in all extracurricular activities are using drugs, differences in experimentation and use among participating and nonparticipating students are more extreme when specific substances are examined. Although extracurricular participation cannot be heralded as abuse prevention, students involved in these activities are not using…

Compared behavior of college students who wore costumes on Halloween with those who did not. Findings from 805 females and 448 males surveyed over 5-year period revealed significant associations between dressing in costume and drinking alcohol and between masquerading with group and using marijuana and other drugs. Found no significant…

Content analyzed self-reports from 704 college students and used results to develop Marijuana Effect Expectancy Questionnaire and Cocaine Effect Expectancy Questionnaire. Identified six marijuana expectancies and five cocaine expectancies. Drug effect expectancies distinguished between patterns of nonuse and varying degrees of use of these two…

Administered questionnaire relating to cigarette smoking and substance use to 863 college students. Results indicated no significant difference between cigarette smokers and nonsmokers with regard to use of smokeless tobacco, alcohol consumption, or marijuana use. There was significant difference in use of other illicit substances such that…

Presents examples of types of analyses that can be employed in cross-national comparisons of marijuana using samples from U.S. data. The data illustrate basic trends in use over time and the differences between demographic groups in the U.S. Suggests uniform data collection methods would help towards identifying marijuana use as a world-wide…

Summarizes findings of longitudinal study on the relationship between marijuana use and later delinquency and problem behaviors. These studies describe the magnitude of the longitudinal and cross-sectional relationships. Cross-sectional findings measured early in adolescence are strongest. Findings suggest that the nature of the relationship is…

Presents the story of a talented teacher who was fired after a marijuana joint was discovered in her car, though she denied it was hers. She refused to submit to urinalysis and spent years unsuccessfully battling the decision in court, searching for satisfying work, and facing prejudice in job situations. (SM)

A questionnaire investigating adolescents' opinions and experiences regarding marijuana use was administered to 163 adolescents and young adults (96 boys and 67 girls) aged 13 to 20 (mean age = 16.8, s.d. = 1.5). Items referred to marijuana and other substances' dangerousness, representations regarding the positive and negative consequences of…

This study examined the impact of treatment adherence and therapist competence on treatment outcome in a controlled trial of individual cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) and multidimensional family therapy (MDFT) for adolescent substance use and related behavior problems. Participants included 136 adolescents (62 CBT, 74 MDFT) assessed at intake,…

Examination of childhood risk factors for injection drug use may provide clues as to why people progress to injection drug use and it can promote identification of at-risk youth. We surveyed current injection drug users (IDUs) and individuals who never injected drugs (non-IDUs), recruited through street outreach and snowball sampling in Denver,…