Lack of Gender Differences in Lifetime Substance Use Reported Among African-American Urban Community College Students

The use of psychotropic substances among students: The prevalence, factor association, and abuse

This detailed review analyzed the previously published studies related to the prevalence of psychotropic substances use, associated factors, and the misuse of the psychotropics among students. A comprehensive literature search covering six databases was performed. References from published articles and reports were extracted. This helped in identifying the available information on the use of psychotropic drugs. A total of 16 articles were included in this review. There is an upsurge of using psychotropics with the preceding years. More students are exposed to the risk of using psychotropic substances due to the multiple factors like stress, increased academic workload, etc. The misuse is found to be common with prescribed psychotropic substances. Students need to be aware of the bad outcomes of using psychotropic substances. Participation of every stakeholder to curb this menace needs to be emphasized. More extensive studies are required to know about the increasing prevalence, factors, and misuse of psychotropics.

Effects of transnational migration on drug use: an ethnographic study of Nepali female heroin users in Hong Kong

BACKGROUND

Past studies of female drug users in South Asia tend to focus on their plights, for instance, how they have been driven to drug use and encounter more problems than their male counterparts, such as HIV/AIDS and sexual abuse. Few studies focus on their active role--how they actively make use of resources in the external environment to construct their desired femininity through drug consumption. Furthermore, little is known about the situation of female South Asian drug users who are living overseas. This paper is a study of transnational migration, drug use and gender--how transnational migration influences the drug use of female transnational migrants.

METHODS

An 18-month ethnography has been carried out in a Nepali community in Hong Kong and 13 informants were interviewed. Data were coded and analyzed by using the grounded-theory approach. Themes related to the drug use of the female Nepali heroin users were identified.

RESULTS

The findings show that there are three important themes that significantly affect the drug use of female Nepali heroin users, which include (1) their relationships with intimate partners, (2) their means of support, and (3) their legal status in migration.

CONCLUSIONS

The findings are consistent with the concept of post-structuralism in gender and transnationalism theories. Female Nepali heroin users in Hong Kong are neither active agents nor passive victims; their active/passive role is largely dependent on their reconfigured opportunities and constraints in transnational migration. Thus, transnationalism should be taken as an important perspective to study the situation of female drug users in a globalized context.

Comments on "Gender, ethnic, age, and relationship differences in non-traditional college student alcohol consumption: a tri-ethnic study"

The purpose of these comments is to serve as a reaction to an article by Stephanie Babb, Cynthia Stewart, and Christine Bachman of the University of Houston-Downtown. The article is ambitiously titled "Gender, Ethnic, Age, and Relationship Differences in Non-Traditional College Students' Alcohol Consumption: A Tri-Ethnic Study" and is published in this issue of the Journal of Ethnicity in Substance Abuse. These comments are not intended to be a definitive response to all of the possible points raised by the authors of the article; rather they are reflective of the personal views of an addiction professional who has been active in the field for several years, particularly involved with efforts directed at substance use by non-traditional college students, and who has published previously on related topics. It is only possible to react to a few specific issues raised by the article; another commentator or a peer reviewer would probably address a myriad other areas. Indeed, several other topics of concern could have been addressed, but I felt it prudent and hopefully more productive to keep my comments more narrowly focused on some of the matters that seemed more pressing.