Abstract
Marijuana utilization among school aged adolescents is major public and mental health concern in Ghana and other developing countries, with the rate of usage soaring high among school going adolescents. The objective of this study was to investigate the prevalence of marijuana utilization among selected Junior High School (JHS) students in the Central Region of Ghana and explore the relative impact of psychosocial factors accounting for its usage. Using a descriptive cross-sectional survey design with the Global School Based Survey GSHS questionnaire, a sample of 1400 school going adolescents students were drawn using multistage sampling procedure. Frequencies, percentages and binary logistic regression results indicated marijuana utilization prevalence of 9% (n = 122). Statistically, gender (OR = 0.52, 95% CI= 0.35 - .765, p = 0.001), religious affiliation (OR = 1.76, 95% CI = 1.0 - 2.95, p = 0.034), socioeconomic background (OR = 0.52, 95% CI = 0.33 - 1.23, p = 0.004) and geographical location (OR = 0.53, 95% CI = 0.31 - .886, p = 0.016) significantly predicted marijuana utilization among school aged adolescents. No statistically significant variations were found in the odds of students’ marijuana usage for age (OR = 1.15, 95% CI = 0.69 - 1.88, p = 0.590), parental communication (OR = 0.83, 95% CI = 0.56 - 1.23, p = 0.348) and academic performance (OR = 1.09, 95% CI = 0.66 -1.80, p = 0.744). Findings suggest that school based research should reflect and perhaps replicate existing prevalence, patterns of marijuana and other drug use through multiple school surveys nationwide. This pathway may provide useful information towards the design, evaluation and implementation of drug prevention cognitive-behavioural interventions and the development of stringent drug regulative standards.
Highlights
Adolescents’ drug use has become a topical issue due to its onset of behaviors and conditions that affect health and lead to later life disorders associated with individuals’ functioning
The results further revealed that 58% (n = 71) of the marijuana users’ level of education at first usage was at the Junior High School (JHS) whereas the rest 42% (n = 51) were in the primary school
Binary logistic regression results indicated that the overall logistic regression model significantly predicted marijuana use among school going adolescents in the Central Region (-2LogL =768.116, χ2 = 43.545, p = 0.001)
Summary
Adolescents’ drug use has become a topical issue due to its onset of behaviors and conditions that affect health and lead to later life disorders associated with individuals’ functioning. This unhealthy behaviour is closely associated with increased morbidity and mortality that pose major public and mental health challenges. Degenhardt and associates reiterated that “Substance use in young people aged 10–24 years might disrupt key periods of transition that occur as the adolescent brain undergoes cognitive and emotional development, and key psychosocial transitions that are made” The onset of drug use primarily begins during the adolescence period, with the utilization of lawful drugs such as alcohol and tobacco usually preceding the usage of illicit drugs [4]
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