James G. Barber

The assessment of drug attitudes among university students using the short form of the Drug Attitude Scale

A short form of the Drug Attitude Scale (Goodstadt, Cook, Magid, and Gruson, 1978) was constructed and used to assess the structure of drug attitudes among beginning university students. Results revealed that students distinguish between socially acceptable and socially unacceptable drugs, with alcohol and tobacco being classed together with prescription medications. Moreover, unlike socially unacceptable drugs, students reported using alcohol more for its physical than for its social effects.

Fighting drug abuse in Australia

On the basis of a sample survey (N = 919) of North Queensland considerable evidence is provided that education is the most favored and treatment the least favored intervention strategy in fighting drug abuse. Law enforcement takes an intermediate position. However, there is even more evidence that people do not agree about the definition and meaning of these three intervention mechanisms and that people frequently make contradictory recommendations. There is but limited evidence that these recommendations vary in terms of personal and socioeconomic background.

Themes in the Literature on the Antecedents of Adolescent Drug Use

The literature on the antecedents of drug abuse is reviewed and a number of general themes are extracted. Based on these themes, directions for primary prevention programs are identified.

The National Media Campaign Revisited

A representative sample of the North Queensland population was interviewed at the end of Phase I of the national media campaign of the National Campaign Against Drug Abuse (NCADA) to ascertain public perception of the campaign. While 93% had heard about the NCADA only 75% had received the booklet which was to be distributed to all households. Respondents were somewhat critical of the booklet and the various television and radio programs. Measured on a scale of 1 (extremely poor) to 6 (extremely good) most components of the media campaign scored just below 4. Thirty percent of respondents said they had gained some information from the booklet. In half this was about the physiological effects of drug abuse and in half about the National Drug Information telephone line. Of the 919 respondents, only 15 had attempted to ring the service and 9 received a satisfactory answer. Most respondents considered that current efforts to control drug abuse were inadequate.