University Archives

A local community coalition (previously funded by the Drug-Free Communities Support Program within the Office of National Drug Control Policy and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention), in partnership with the University of Detroit Mercy, gathered youth perceptions regarding teen alcohol, marijuana, nicotine, and prescription drug use. As part of a community needs assessment, focus groups were conducted at local high schools with 9th, 10th, and 12th graders. The purpose of this research was to uncover general trends in the youth's perception of drug use in their communities, listening for the terminology that they would naturally use in interactions with each other. The groups (58 participants in total) with parental permission were briefed on confidentiality and the sensitivity of the subject matter before providing qualitative responses on 29 different questions. Audio recordings, transcriptions, and notes of the responses were codified and analyzed to draw conclusions. Results showed that students experience low difficulty accessing nicotine, alcohol, and marijuana.  Youth provided popular accesses methods, perceived peer use of substances, and perceived reasons for use of each drug. Youth also provided ideas for prevention, intervention, and support strategies. These included early conversations about health consequences, acceptance rather than punitive measures in response to usage, and anonymous helplines for struggling students.