ABSTRACT
Objective:
to evaluate the perception of harm and benefits from using marijuana in adolescents’, to determine lifetime, past year and past month prevalence of marijuana use; and to analyze the relationship between marijuana use and the perception of harm and benefits from using marijuana.
Methods:
multi-centric, quantitative cross sectional survey design method was utilized for this research. Data was collected using structured standardized approved questionnaire. A total of 273 students from three high schools in two cities of the country of Belize participated in the survey conducted in 2015.
Results:
lifetime prevalence of marijuana use of 41.4% (39.2% past year, 24.9% past 30 days), and average age of onset of 12 years. First time prevalence of marijuana use among students by sex indicated 53.1% male students used marijuana as compared to 46.9% female students with no significant (p>0.05) statistical difference seen between genders. Participants reported that their friends use marijuana (45.1%); while 68.1% of the marijuana users had some friends that use marijuana. 51% of the students surveyed stated that they would not use marijuana, even if it were legally available. The majority (70%) perceived no risk to using marijuana occasionally. Statistical analysis revealed that a high perception of benefits, a low risk perception and friends’ use of marijuana was associated with individual use as well as intention to use in a hypothetical context of regulatory changes.
Conclusion:
the Belizean school-aged adolescents are more than likely to smoke marijuana because of friends’ influence, low perception of risks and if marijuana is legally available and accessible to them.
DESCRIPTORS
Cannabis; Adolescent Behavior; Risk-Taking; Marijuana Abuse; Medical Marijuana
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