The Social Contexts of Drug Offers and Their Relationship to Drug Use of Rural Hawaiian Youths

This paper examines the differences in drug offers and recent drug use between Hawaiian and non-Hawaiian youth residing in rural communities, and the relationship between drug offers and drug use of Hawaiian youth in these communities. Two hundred forty nine youth (194 Hawaiian youth) from 7 different middle or intermediate schools completed a survey focused on the social context of drug offers. Hawaiian youth in the study received significantly more offers from peers and family, and had significantly higher rates of recent alcohol and marijuana use, compared with non-Hawaiian youth. Logistic regression analysis indicated that the social context differentially influenced drug use of Hawaiian youth, with family drug offers and context influencing overall drug use and the use of the widest variety of substances. Implications for prevention practices are discussed.