8342937130

H.M. ABDULIAH AL-HADI AND M.T. MOHD NASIR

the personalityofdrug-usingchildren. Thereports of the study in relation to the above-mentioned objectives are discussed elsewhcre (Abdullah Al-Hadi and Mohd. Nasir, 1989; 1990; in press).

MATERIALS AND METHODS

This study focused on the initiation of drug use, namely gan ja (marijuana), and adolescents (12 to 22 years olei). Focuson the initiation of drug use was thought appropriate because studieson drug abuse should start at the period when the user begins experimenting wilh drugs. How an individual coines to initially use a particular drug appears to be a logical focal point to begin explaining drug use. At thesametime, focuson the useofganja (marijuana)is pertinentsińce findings from studies conducted locally (Choo and Navaratnam 1980) and internationally (Kandcl 1975; 0’Donnel and Clayton 1979) indicate that ganja (marijuana) was the initial and major drug experimen ted on by drug users.

The adolescent group was the target of the study duc to the facts that in Malaysia, the majority of drug users began using drugs during the period of 15 to 24 years (Pasukan PetugasAnti-Dadah 1988). This age group mainly comprised adolescents.

Study Area

w

The drug users (case group) were selected from Government Drug Rehabilitation Centers at Tampoi,Tampin, Perlop, Bukit Mertajam, and Be-sut towns found throughout Peninsular Malaysia. These rehabilitation centers represented the Southern, central, north central, northern and eastern region sof Peninsular Malaysia respectively.

Universiti Pertanian Malaysia (UPM) wascho-sen as the study area for the non-drug user group (control group) because i tis one of theuniversities in Malaysia, besides UniversitiTeknologi Malaysia (U I M), offering both diploma and degree program mes. The entry requirement for the degree programme istheSijilTinggi Persekolahan (STP) while the enti"y level for the diploma programme of studiesistheSijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM).

Siudy Sample

The study sample consisted of two groups of responden ls namely the case and the control groups.

I he case group comprised drug addicts who were receiving treatment at five government Rehabilitation Centers throughout Peninsular Malaysia whereas the control group consisted of individuals who had never used drugs.

Only Malay males 23 years or belowin age w< selected for the study. Males were chosen for t study for the reason that inmates of the Govei ment Rehabilitation Centers comprised the mj sex only. Malay males were selected for the stu sińce the majority of drug users in Malaysia a overwhelmingly Malay (Pasukan Petugas An Dadah, 1988). Thecriterion of age at or below years old was chosen sińce the focusof the study v the adolescence age group (12 to 22 years). Ti upperage limit of 23 years old was uscd in the latt criterion so that adolescents who initiated drugu at the end of their adolescence were included in tl study. A report by the National Anti-Drug Fori (Pasukan PetugasAnti-Dadah 1988) assertedth the relevant authorities were only able to identi drug users one or morę years afterthey had beeni volved with drugs.

Ali the drug users of the five Governmcnt R habilitation Centers who fulfilled the selec tion c| teriawere chosen for the study. This selectionrl sulted in one hundred and eighty-three (183) dni users included in the case group. For the contry group, 200 students who never used drugs and \sl| fulfilled the selection criteria were selected) random from the LIPM student population.

One major disparity between the case and ti control groups was in their current level of educ. tion. The control group had a higher current lew of education than their case group counterpart However, it was felt that this disparity would w affect theresultsof the studvfor the reason thaut study was conducted retrospectively emphasi/ir on the past and not on the current Ievel of educ tion. Other studies conducted locally (Mariar and Mohd Rozali, 1986) and internationai (Coopersmith, 1967;Jessor, 1979) have repeated shown that the level of education does not rela significantly not only with the individual’s sc esteem but also with the development of initi drug use.

The case (drug users) and the contr-groups( non drug users) in this study rangedin as Irom 18 to 23 years. For the case group, meanai was 21.3 years, and for the control group, mean w was 20.6 years.

Procedurę

f his study utilized a structured questionnai' which wasadministered to all subjects individtia and privately. The subjects were requested n¹ to reveal their names on the questionnaire ar were told that their identity would rema anonymous.

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PFRTANIKA VOL. 14 NO.l, 1991