Alcohol and cannabis: Young people talking about how parents respond to their use of these two drugs

Abstract

In recent years, there has been increasing concern over rising levels of alcohol and cannabis use among young people. This paper reports findings from a qualitative investigation of young people's cannabis-related beliefs and behaviour. Fifty-nine boys and girls aged 13 to 15 years were interviewed, mostly in self-selected friendship pairs, in six contrasting locations in east central Scotland. This paper explores how young people talked about their parents’ responses, actual and anticipated, to knowledge of their alcohol and cannabis use. These accounts suggest three similar sets of responses for both alcohol and cannabis, but one significant difference. Some young people reported parents taking a prohibitive approach, others reportedly responded with varying degrees of passive tolerance. In the final set of responses, relating mostly to alcohol, many young people reported their parents talking openly and negotiating boundaries around their drinking. This approach appeared to be largely effective in helping them to develop a responsible approach to alcohol. By contrast, cannabis was rarely talked about openly, becoming instead the subject of speculation and assumption. The paper concludes that supporting parents openly to discuss their children's actual or potential cannabis use before it begins or before it becomes problematic is an important step in helping to reduce the harms associated with misuse of cannabis.