Journal of Drug Education: Substance Use Research and Prevention

The purpose of this article is to introduce an evaluation instrument used to determine the effectiveness of the North Carolina Drug Education School (DES). The institutional objective of the DES is to provide a conditional discharge and an expunction of records for first offenders of the North Carolina Controlled Substance Act and Regulations.

This study investigated the extent of hallucinogenic mushroom use among 1507 college students and compared mushroom users to nonusers. The subjects, who completed an anonymous questionnaire, were students from California State University, Northridge, and the University of California, Los Angeles. The major finding was that among the respondents who reported use of hallucinogenic drugs (17%), over 85 percent had used hallucinogenic (psilocybin) mushrooms and over half had used mushrooms but no other hallucinogens. The data suggest a high level of experimental use compared to other hallucinogens. Survey research into hallucinogenic mushroom use should be extended, and mushroom use should be distinguished from use of other hallucinogens.

The perceptions of public school teachers from the same school system about student smoking and smoking education were studied in 1973 and again in 1982. The data were analyzed according to three categories: changes that had occurred over time, areas that did not change, and changes in the data that were specifically related to teacher smoking status. The two major findings were: 1) there has been relatively little change in teachers' perception related to smoking education over the nine years, and 2) teachers that smoke are more resistant to participating in education programs to reduce student smoking behavior than teachers who do not smoke were nine years ago. The study lists three proposals to participate in smoking education. These include: 1) the development of in-service education programs; 2) the establishment of curriculum units on smoking education in teacher education institutions; and 3) workshops focussed on soliciting the cooperation of teachers who smoke.

On-the-job stress was examined in relationship with the strength of need to use and the frequency of use of over-the-counter (OTC) and prescription (P) drugs and alcohol (A), across five teacher samples (N = 1788). The Total Strength and Total Frequency Scores of the Teacher Stress Inventory (TSI) were used to assess stress levels. It was determined that: 1) high stress frequencies were significantly related to the frequent use of OTC, P, and A substances, 2) high stress strengths were significantly related to perceptions of the strong need to use such substances; 3) 6 percent to 11 percent of the teachers reported a great-to-major need to use chemical substances to manage stress, while 3 percent to 11 percent reported actually making use of these on a near-daily or daily basis; 4) the Total Stress Frequency can be used to predict the frequency of substance use; and 5) both the Total Frequency and Total Strength measures can be used to predict the degree of need to use stress-buffering substances.

Student locus of control and perceptions of school environment were investigated for their effect on outcome in three Alternatives-based school drug abuse prevention programs. Multivariate and univariate analyses of covariance were conducted on experimental and control students separately. For experimental students, locus of control was significant in the multivariate analysis: Internal students scored lower on the drug-related measures and higher on self-esteem. Certain interactions between locus of control and school environment perceptions also significantly affected some outcome variables. Analyses for controls yielded no significant confounding results.

Clinical staff at a community health clinic reported that chemical use problems were highly prevalent in the population served. We designed a survey to gather objective patient data concerning chemical use patterns and related family and social problems. A stratified random sample (n = 125) was drawn from the total clinic weekly appointment book schedules (TCSS group). A comparison sample composed of 147 persons was drawn from all clients receiving mental health services (MHS group). For both groups, staff reported observations regarding chemical use patterns and associated problems, and described type and severity of family problems. Thirty percent of the total clinical services sample (TCSS) families had at least one member using drugs at the circumstantial-situational level, this compared with 39 percent of the MHS group. The survey results confirm impressions that chemical use and associated problems such as co-dependency are significant factors affecting both individuals and families.