Drug Use and South African Students. Papers in International Studies. Africa Series No. 35.

The concern over cannabis and its possible effects have prompted the establishment of the National Institute on Drug Abuse. This project was funded as one of a number of international studies focussing on chronic cannabis use in its natural setting. Four major ethnic South African groups were examined relative to their use of cannabis: African, Colored, Indian and White (1,152 high school students and 701 university students). The hypotheses tested were that the African students would smoke more cannabis and view it more naturally than the other ethnic groups, and that the English-speaking urban Whites would be more familar with drugs in general than their Arfikaan-speaking counterparts. A 10-page questionnaire, compiled for administration to the student sample (included in the appendix), reveals that there were about the same precentage of users among Whites and Africans at both high school and university levels. More high school students had tried drugs while more university students smoked cannabis regularly. In both categories, Africans started drug experimentation at the youngest age. (Author/BMW)