Cannabis and amphetamine use and its psychosocial correlates among school-going adolescents in Ghana

Kwaku Oppong Asante

doi:10.1186/s13034-019-0293-0

Abstract

BackgroundThe aim of this study was to examine the prevalence of cannabis and amphetamine use and to determine its associated factors among school-going adolescents in Ghana.MethodThe 2012 Ghanaian Global School-based Student Health Survey on 3632 adolescents aged 11–19 years (mean = 15.1 years; SD = 1.4) was used. Participants for this study were sampled from selected junior (JHS) and senior high schools (SHS) in all the 10 administrative regions of Ghana. A two-stage cluster sampling design was used to select 25 senior high schools to represent all the 10 regions of Ghana. Information was collected with a self-administered structured questionnaire that contained information on demographics, alcohol, tobacco and other drug use, violence, and a range of other health-related behaviours.ResultsThe result showed that past-month cannabis use was 5.3% and lifetime amphetamine use was 7.1% among students. In multivariate model, after controlling for other variables, school truancy and current cigarette smoking were associated with both past-month cannabis and lifetime amphetamine use. The number of close friends was associated with only past-month cannabis use. School environment factors (bullying victimisation and having been attacked) and parental substance use were associated with lifetime amphetamine use.ConclusionThis study identified a number of risk factors, including parental substance use and various risk behaviours, for both past-month cannabis and lifetime amphetamine use. School-based health intervention programmes should be developed taking into consideration the risk factors associated with cannabis and amphetamine use among school-going adolescents.

Highlights

Illicit drug use contributes significantly to the global burden of disease, and is considered an emerging public health problem [1, 2]
This study identified a number of risk factors, including parental substance use and various risk behaviours, for both past-month cannabis and lifetime amphetamine use
School-based health intervention programmes should be developed taking into consideration the risk factors associated with cannabis and amphetamine use among school-going adolescents

Summary

Introduction

Illicit drug use contributes significantly to the global burden of disease, and is considered an emerging public health problem [1, 2]. According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), the global prevalence of illicit drug use (including amphetamines, cannabis, cocaine, opioids, etc.) in 2015 was 5.3% [3]. In a South African population-based survey conducted among individuals aged 12 years and older in 2012, past 3-month prevalence of illicit drug use was 4.4% [4]. A Ghanaian population-based national study conducted in 2008 among school-going adolescents, found the prevalence of past 1-month (any) drug use to be 3.6% [5]. Earlier follow-up studies among adolescents in Ghana reported prevalence rates of 2.6% and 7.2% for pastmonth cannabis use [6, 7].

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