DEFINITION:
Substance abuse is “compulsive use of a substance despite negative consequences which can be severe; drug abuse is simply excessive use of a drug or use of a drug for purposes for which it was not medically intended”.
Illicit drugs are narcotics. “A narcotic is an addictive drug, especially an opiate, that dulls the senses and induces sleep; a drug that is controlled or prohibited by law.”
Binge drinking is “a pattern of heavy drinking that occurs during an extended period of time set aside for drinking. Usually described as five or more drinks in a row on a single occasion for a man or four or more drinks for a woman.”
Abstainers are people who have “never engaged in any alcohol, tobacco or other drug use.”
OVERVIEW:
Many think of Asian and Pacific Islander Americans (APIA) as the “model minority”. This notion can’t help but be furthered since they have some of the lowest rates of substance use and abuse among ethnic groups. However, these seemingly low rates could be confounded by the fact that little research has been done on substance use and abuse in the APIA population by subgroup (i.e. Sri Lankan, Hmong, Chinese etc.) in relation to age. While the overall APIA population does use and abuse drugs less frequently than other groups, few studies have looked at their use and abuse rates by subgroup among APIA adolescents are. The studies that have looked at APIA adolescents within their subgroups show that among certain subgroups and categories of drugs, these rates are not as low as one might expect. The data suggests that “Asian American youth who do drink are relatively heavy consumers”, and that in regards to marijuana, it has been shown that smoking rates in APIA rise through age 15 and start decreasing by 17.
IMPORTANCE:
Looking at substance use and abuse in APIA adolescents by subgroup is essential for two reasons: 1) it would allow us to develop health behavior interventions for each subgroup since all are distinct in both language and culture, and 2) since APIA adolescents are at risk for substance use and abuse, and by collecting data on their ages of first use, health educators can target substance use and abuse based on the ages that APIA adolescents are most at risk. Existing prevention programs have not proved to be useful in the long term , so new methods must be developed that target not only adolescents but also their subgroups. While a consistent relationship between parental disapproval and decreased substance use and abuse has been found , delving into each adolescent subgroup is vital to fully comprehend the unique mediators and moderators for each population that can lead to the use and abuse of drugs. This necessary research can lead to tailored interventions which can help subgroups of adolescents within the APIA community deal with a problem that has been hidden in the research on APIA’s.
- 11% of Asian American youth engage in weekly drinking which equals or exceeds rates reported by African Americans.
- “40.6% of first generation Asian youth are “abstainers,” only 23.4% of second generation and 22.9% of third generation Asian” American continue to fall into this category.
- “11.2 percent of Asian American high school and 2.2 percent of Asian American middle school students smoked cigarettes.”
- Filipino American youths are more likely to use alcohol than Chinese. In fact, Filipino youth aged 12 to 17 are five times as likely to binge drink as Chinese American youth.,
- “Vietnamese youth have the highest current marijuana use, 2.8% almost equivalent to that of whites, 2.9%.”
- “Illicit drug use rate amongst Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islanders is 9.1%, higher than other ethnic/racial groups.”
- Koreans aged 12 and older, have greater than three times the rate of past month smoking as Chinese youth.
- “Among all Asian and Pacific Islander youth admissions, marijuana was the primary substance of abuse 49% of the time.”
- While all rates of substance abuse by ethnicity are higher for men than women in the U.S., the greatest difference in these rates were for APIA’s.
Fig. 1 http://www.oas.samhsa.gov/2k6/raceCigs/raceCigs.pdf
Fig. 2 http://www.oas.samhsa.gov/2k2/AsianYouthAlc/AsianYouthAlc.pdf
RESOURCES:
- National Asian Pacific American Families Against Substance Abuse
- Asian American Drug Abuse Program
- Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration
- The Partnership for a Drug Free America
- National Institute on Drug Abuse for Teens
REFERENCES:
American Lung Association. (2006). Smoking and Asian Americans/Pacific Islanders Fact Sheet. Retrieved from http://www.lungusa.org/site/apps/s/content.asp?c=dvLUK9O0E&b=34706&ct=66706.
Garner, B. (2007). Black’s Law Dictionary, 8th edition. New York: Thomson West.
Gillmore, M., Catalano, Morrison, D., Wells, E., Iritani B., and Hawkins, D. (1990). Racial differences in acceptability and availability of drugs and early initiation of substance use. American Journal of Drug and Alcohol Abuse, 16 (3-4), 185-207.
Harachi, T., Catalano, R., Kim, S., and Choi, Y. (2001). Etiology and Prevention of Substance Use Among Asian American Youth. Prevention Science, 2 (1), 57-65.
Hussey, J., Hallfors, D., Waller, M., Iritani, B., Halpern, C., and Bauer, D. (2007). Sexual Behavior and Drug Use Among Asian and Latino Adolescents: Association with Immigrant Status. Journal of Immigrant Health, 9, 85-94.
Medline Plus. (2005). Drug Abuse and Dependence. Retrieved from http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/001522.htm.National Institutes of Health- National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. Understanding Alcohol. Retrieved from http://science.education.nih.gov/supplements/nih3/alcohol/other/glossary.htm.
National Asian Pacific American Families Against Substance Abuse. (2005). Fact Sheet: Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Illicit Drug Use. Retrieved from http://www.napafasa.org/resources/doc/Illicit%20Drugs%20Fact%20Sheet.doc.SAMHSA – Office of Applied Studies. (2006). Prevalence of Substance Abuse Among Racial and Ethnic Subgroups in the U.S. – Highlights. Retrieved from http://www.oas.samhsa.gov/NHSDA/Ethnic/ethn1006.htm.
SAMHSA – Office of Applied Studies. (2002). The NHSDA Report: Low Rates of Alcohol Use Among Asian Youth. Retrieved from http://www.oas.samhsa.gov/2k2/AsianYouthAlc/AsianYouthAlc.pdf.
The NSDUH Report. (2006). Past Month Cigarette Use Among Racial and Ethnic Groups. Retrieved from http://www.oas.samhsa.gov/2k6/raceCigs/raceCigs.pdf.
The DASIS Report. (2002). Youth Marijuana Admissions By Race and Ethnicity. Retrieved from http://www.oas.samhsa.gov/2k2/raceMJtx/raceMJtx.pdf.
Wong, M., Klingle, R., and Price, R. (2004). Alcohol, tobacco, and other drug use among Asian American and Pacific Islander Adolescents in California and Hawaii. Addictive Behaviors, 29, 127-141.
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