Young Asians and Drug Use

Abstract

It is considered that child health professionals should have sufficient knowledge of patterns of substance (mis)use in young people to enable them to respond appropriately if faced with a client who is, or is suspected of, (mis)using substances. Whilst there is an increasing amount of literature relating to young people's substance misuse in general, there is a paucity of knowledge relating to substance (mis)use amongst young people from an ethnic minority background. In this article the findings of qualitative studies carried out at two sites in Greater Manchester are presented, which suggest that whilst patterns of substance (mis)use amongst Asians may be similar in many ways to those for the general population, they occur within a different cultural context. It is suggested therefore, that there is a need for child health professionals to be culturally sensitive in working with young people who are, or are suspected of, (mis)using drugs - although unfortunately practical examples of such cultural sensitivity have yet to be provided.

The Normalization of Cannabis Use Among Bangladeshi and Pakistani Youth: A New Frontier for the Normalization Thesis?

“…Although attitudes could differ among generations, with some family members censuring consumption, it seems young Bangladeshis and Pakistanis in Mill Town may tolerate its consumption, whether or not they smoke it themselves. These different attitudes may be a result of a shared, generic youth culture and young Asians becoming more westernised (see Patel and Wibberley, 2002).…”

Factors predicting drop out from, and retention in, specialist drug treatment services: A case control study in the North West of England

“…This finding may reflect the lower prevalence of drug use among Asian people although a growing body of evidence indicates that drug use exists among black and minority ethnic (BME) groups and that it is increasing [ 21 ]. Qualitative research into the extent and nature of drug use among young Asians suggests that they were increasingly likely to use illicit drugs and that knowledge and use of heroin, and perhaps crack cocaine, indicated similar use to the general population of the UK [ 22 ].…”

The Organisation of Drug Supply: South Asian Criminal Enterprise in the UK

“…Of course, this should be treated with caution as such rates differ substantially from much of the other research. For example, Patel and Wibberley (2002) estimate that drug use in the Asian population is as common as in the general population of young people. This is particularly true for cannabis, but also for heroin and cocaine, although not for ecstasy and LSD.…”