This quarterly publication is prepared by the Western Center for Drug-Free Schools and Communities, and summarizes recent research on adolescent drug abuse and its prevention. This issue abstracts and reviews the implications of new research dealing with substance abuse among minority youth, specifically Native Americans. The goal is to help…

Describes a chemistry laboratory experiment in which thin-layer chromatography (TLC) is used to analyze urine specimens containing metabolites of the drug tetrahydro-cannabinol, which comes from the marijuana plant. The materials needed to conduct the experiment are listed, and the procedure and expected results are outlined. (TW)

The purpose of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration's Center for Substance Abuse Treatment's (CSAT's) Cannabis Youth Treatment (CYT) Project Cooperative Agreement was to test the relative effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of a variety of interventions designed to eliminate marijuana use and associated problems in…

This survey examined alcohol and other drug use among full- and part-time undergraduate students from 18 colleges in New York State. Students (n=4,646) completed questionnaires on demographics; working and living arrangements; academics; perceptions of campus substance abuse policies; drinking behavior and substance abuse patterns; and…

Investigates the effects on marijuana use of a drug prevention curriculum, as well as this curriculum with added parent and other adult community activities in comparison with a control community. Baseline information on drug-related behaviors from a sample of fourth, fifth and sixth graders aged nine to fourteen years (N=1,200) in rural New…

Substance use and possible factors affecting substance use were assessed for adolescents at 12, 15, and 18 years of age. At ages 15 and 18, higher levels of use were predicted by higher levels of previous use, greater ease of making friends, higher substance use among siblings, and decreases in perceived parental warmth. (BC)

This study describes family-based therapy utilization patterns by the entire population of marijuana-abusing adolescents that received services in the State of Florida in 1997 through 1999, using data from the statewide Florida Mental Health and Substance Abuse Measurement Data. The population consisted of 38,281 adolescent admissions. The results…

In the spring of 1996, the Nevada State Department of Education conducted its fourth biennial survey to assess drug and alcohol attitudes and use among students in grades 6, 8, 10, and 12. Issues of safety, violence, and school climate, as well as participation in school-based prevention programs, were also assessed. The survey results are…

The inverse relation between academic motivation and substance use has been well established, but the direction of the influence remains to be specified; two possible influences are the mediating and moderating effects of family relationships and self-esteem. In this study, investigators used General Estimating Equation (GEE) models based on data…

This study sought to find patterns among the relationship of the factors of substance abuse, home environment, employment during the school year, participation in school activities, and participation in activities outside of school and to confirm or deny that the patterns established for data collected and analyzed during the 1990-91 year would be…

Whether or not to decriminalize the possession of small amounts of marijuana has been one of the most hotly debated policy issues to come onto the U.S. scene over the last decade. This study sought to determine whether decriminalization has had an effect on marijuana use in high school seniors and young adults. In 10 states, marijuana possession…

This document provides critical reviews of 18 computer software programs designed to provide some form of substance abuse education for students in elementary and secondary schools. Evaluation and review procedures used to create this publication are discussed in the introduction and the products which were evaluated are listed. Overall results of…

Project Oz is a not-for-profit special services agency providing drug education and crisis intervention services. Project Oz curricula provide compact and well-researched information for teachers, supplemented by student learning activities that reinforce the lecture portions of the topic. These activities are grade-appropriate and incorporate…

The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of assessment, diagnosis, and treatment planning for individuals with substance abuse problems. The intent is to provide information to professional counselors in school, rehabilitation, school psychology, social work, public mental health, and private treatment settings. Information to be…

Continuing surveillance of drug use among American Indian adolescents living on reservations shows them to have rates of use higher than those of their non-Indian counterparts. Marijuana use is particularly high. By the seventh grade, a significant number of youth have tried drugs. Few significant gender differences exist. (Author/BJV)