Initiation of Methamphetamine Use Among Young Thai Drug Users: A Qualitative Study

• NCJ Number: 221637
• Journal: Journal of Adolescent Health Volume: 42 Issue: 1 Dated: January 2008 Pages: 36-42
• Author(s): Susan G. Sherman Ph.D.; Danielle German MPH; Bangorn Sirirojn M.A.; Nick Thompson MPH; Apinun Aramrattana M.D., Ph.D.; David D. Celentano Sc.D.
• Date Published: January 2008
• Length: 7 pages
• Grant Number(s): DA14702
• Sponsoring Agency: National Institute on Drug Abuse
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This study examined factors associated with initiation of methamphetamine (MA) use among young adults in Chiang Mai, Thailand.

Abstract

Results indicated that a culture of MA ubiquity characterized participants' initiation. Drug ubiquity encompassed three elements: the extent of MA use within peer networks; the availability of MA, and exposure to MA before initiation. All participants were introduced to MA by people close to them, most often by their friends. Internal reasons for trying MA were curiosity, a way to lose weight or to enhance hard work, and a way to forget life’s problems. With the prevalence of MA use among participants' peers, initiation seemed more inevitable. Results indicate that initiation is influenced by a range of social and individual level factors that often occur in tandem as would any contacts of extensive exposure to MA through a variety of sources. In participants' immediate environment, social networks and related norms functioned as vehicles of exposure and access to MA, resulting in tacit or explicit peer pressure that supported initiation. Peer pressure resulted both implicitly from normative behaviors within peer groups, as well as explicitly, through verbal pressure. One of the key mechanisms by which individuals feel connected to their social environments is one of belonging. MA was inextricably tied to participants' social life, as it was portrayed as a necessity for group membership. Of the participants, 20 percent treated initiation of MA use in part to discordance with their parents, pointing to the need for enhancing communication between parents and their children, to provide healthy outlets for teens to deal with their emotions around difficult family relationships. Individuals from three domains: current versus former MA use, urban versus rural living, and gender in the age range of 15 to 29 years and having used MA within the past year were interviewed for data collection. Figure, references