Social factors associated with ethnic differences in alcohol and marijuanause by Vietnamese-, Arabic- and English-speaking youths in Sydney, Australia

Objective: To describe the use of marijuana and alcohol among Arabic- and V ietnamese-speaking senior school students compared with English-speaking ba ckground senior school students in Sydney Australia. Method: A quantitative survey of 2573 school students attending Years 10 an d 11 from 12 high schools with a high Vietnamese and Arabic population was conducted in Sydney in 1998. Self-reported marijuana use, school and cultur al background information was collected. Results: Students from an English-speaking background, both males and femal es, had almost double the prevalence of marijuana use (once or more) during their lifetime (48.3 and 43.6%), the 12 months (40.9 and 36.3%) and 1 mont h prior to survey administration (23.1 and 13.4%) than the group with the s econd highest frequency of use (students of European and other backgrounds) . Female Vietnamese (7.3% lifetime use) and Arabic students (8.6% lifetime use) had the lowest marijuana use rates, which were less than half that of male Vietnamese (23.5% lifetime use) and Arabic students (28% lifetime use) . A similar pattern was found for three types of alcohol use. Spending thre e or more evenings a week out with friends was associated with higher alcoh ol use for Vietnamese students (relative risk ratio of 2.76). Conclusions: These results confirm lower marijuana and alcohol use among st udents from Vietnamese- and Arabic-speaking backgrounds compared with stude nts from an English-speaking background. Harm minimization strategies may b e learned from some migrant communities.