COMPREHENSIVE PLAN CAN CURB YOUTH DRUG USE

The prevalence of drug risk behavior among youth has been steadily
increasing since the 1980s, with sharp inclines in the 1990s.

A report from the World Health Organization indicates that drug use
starts at approximately 10 years of age and peaks at around age 15. A
Health Canada survey on youth addictions found that 61.4 per cent of
Canadian youth aged 15 to 17 had used marijuana at least once, and 37
per cent had used it in the past year.

A main problem with drug use in youth is that it can alter the
structure and function of the developing brain and may have long-term
consequences that reach far beyond adolescence.

The Saskatoon School Health Survey in 2008 asked 4,093 youth who were
10 to 15 years of age several questions regarding their health and behaviour.

A report in Pediatrics and Child Health concluded that 4.6 per cent
of Saskatoon youth within that age group were already using
marijuana. After statistically controlling for other factors, the
greatest risk indicators for marijuana use among youth were poverty,
school conditions, mental health problems and social influence.

In Saskatoon, children from low income families were 163 per cent
more likely to use marijuana. A child who skipped school more than
once was 313 per cent more likely to use marijuana, whereas a child
who was suspended from school more than once was 289 per cent more
likely to use marijuana.

A child who was bullied at school was 15 per cent more likely to use
marijuana and one who had suicidal thoughts was 156 per cent more
likely to do so. A a child who has a friend who used marijuana is 16
times more likely to use the drug himself.

Prior to statistical adjustments, aboriginal youth were 891 per cent
more likely to use marijuana. The odds of an aboriginal youth using
marijuana dropped by 712 per cent after statistically adjusting for
poverty, school conditions, mental health problems and social influence.

In other words, marijuana use among aboriginal youth can be reduced
significantly.

Schools can play an important role in delivering drug prevention
programs, as they offer an effective means to target large groups of
young people in a controlled environment. The problem is that most
programs are not complex enough to actually change drug behaviour.

In a literature review published in Prevention Science, only one in
seven schools offered evidence-based programming.

Saskatoon researchers reviewed 929 articles and published a
literature review in the journal, Addiction Research and Theory,
regarding what works and what does not work within school-based programming.

Knowledge-based programs influence the level of education about drugs
among youth, but they do not have a meaningful impact on actually
changing attitudes or behaviour.

The only programs found to be effective were long-term comprehensive
initiatives that combined anti-drug information and developed skills
in refusal, self-management and social interaction. When such
comprehensive programs were initiated, youth used marijuana seven
fewer days a month and drank alcohol 12 fewer days a month.

These results are consistent with other findings. The WHO reviewed
the literature on school-based drug and alcohol prevention programs
and learned that interventions that focused only on knowledge and
were presented in non-interactive lectures were not effective. The
WHO concluded what's needed were more interactive programs that
foster the development of personal skills.

WHO also recommended a more comprehensive approach and suggested that
we need to address the underlying mental health and social issues
that predispose many adolescents to engage in risk behaviors.

A literature review published in Health Education Research found that
social influence programs in combination with comprehensive programs
succeeded best at reducing substance use. Another literature review
published in Addiction suggested that substance abuse strategies for
young people will only be effective if they include methods to
strengthen the family and contain culturally focused skills training.

A meta-analysis published in Health Education Research concluded that
school-based drug prevention campaigns should target middleschool
students, delivery of the program should primarily involve peers, and
better results are achieved by targeting higher risk youth in
comparison to the general population.

If we really want to reduce illicit drug use in youth, we need
comprehensive programs that address poverty, school conditions and
underlying mental health problems. We then need to couple these
initiatives with programming that develops refusal skills,
self-management skills, social skills and life skills.

We also need to target higher risk students in the mid-age range with
interactive and culturally appropriate formats that are primarily
delivered by the youth themselves. The good news is one in seven
schools in North America are already doing this.

The question is: Do we have the will to proceed with evidence-based policies?