This Month

Transportation progress continues around the region

SANDAG is making headlines

NCTD SPRINTER on schedule
for 2007
New maps provide unique look at region

SchoolPool wristbands here for a limited time!

Youth perceptions vary on harmful effects of drug use

MTS partners with Coca-Cola to present local scholarships

Youth perceptions vary on harmful effects of drug use

Interviews with juveniles booked in San Diego County Juvenile Hall shed light on the differences in perception of harm caused by alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs (ATOD) between those youth who have used drugs and those who have not. Youth who reported never having used ATOD were more likely to view each of the substances as harmful compared to those youth who reported ever using one or more of the substances. However, this pattern differed significantly among those youth who had reported using methamphetamine (meth). Nine out of ten youth, regardless of their use history, believed that meth was a harmful drug.

These results raise a couple of issues for professionals in the ATOD prevention and intervention field to explore. Given that meth users already seem to possess a realistic view of the negative consequences of the drug, should social marketing campaigns targeting this population be designed differently than other ATOD prevention campaigns? In addition, the higher percentage of tobacco users who perceived cigarettes as harmful compared to marijuana and alcohol users suggests a gap in knowledge and the need for educational outreach to users of these substances.

Additional information about drug use trends and at-risk behaviors of the juvenile arrestee population in San Diego County will be available in the upcoming Substance Abuse Monitoring (SAM) bulletin. This bulletin, as well as past SAM bulletins on both the adult and juvenile arrestee population, can be found on SANDAG’s Web site.

Project Manager:
Cynthia Burke, cbu@sandag.org, 619-699-1910