The Effect of Religion and Religiosity on Drug Use Among a Selected Sample of Post Secondary Students in Scotland

Abstract

Background: some studies suggest that religious variables are associated with substance use and abuse however, they tend to be compartmentalized into alcohol, tobacco, or illicit drugs. Few have examined both licit and illicit drugs. The purpose of this study was to investigate the patterns of licit and illicit recreational drug use among post-secondary students in terms of religious background and religiosity. Method: the Queensland Alcohol and Drug Study Questionnaire was completed by students attending courses in “helping profession” departments such as medicine, nursing, education, and psychology from 22 departments at universities and colleges in five Scottish cities. The sample consisted of 3117 females and 949 males. Results: among female students a higher percent (p <. 05) who were Not Religious consumed over 14 drinks per week (55.5 vs 36.2%), tobacco (43.3 vs 29.3%), marijuana (32.4 vs 15.1%), amphetamines (8.4 vs 4.1%), LSD (7.4 vs 2.9%), and Ecstasy (4.8 vs 2.1%) compared to those who were Very Religious. A higher percent of Roman Catholic's consumed alcoholic beverages while a higher percent of Protestants, other than Church of Scotland, consumed tobacco. For all other substances those with “odier” or no religious background had a higher proportion of users. There was a positive association between illicit drug use and both high alcohol consumption and tobacco use. In particular a strong association was found between tobacco and marijuana (r=.45). Among males a higher proportion of students (p <.05) who were Not Religious consumed over 21 drinks per week (61.3 vs 32.4%), tobacco, (47.8 vs 35.2%), marijuana (50.2 vs 28.3%), amphetamines (15.9 vs 8.0%), LSD (17.6 vs 8.4%), and Ecstasy (9.2 vs 5.2%) compared to students who were Very Religious. A higher percentage of male students with “other” or no religious backgrounds used tobacco and a higher proportion of Roman Catholics used marijuana, amphetamines and Ecstasy. Illicit drug consumption was positively correlated with heavy alcohol and tobacco use. Tobacco was strongly correlated with marijuana (r=.48) and LSD (r=.42) use. It was concluded that among this sample of Scottish post-secondary students, having a strong religious commitment was associated with less substance use and that heavy drinking and using tobacco was correlated with illicit drug use. Implications of this study suggest further research to determine why lack of religious commitment, being Roman Catholic or having no religious preference are a risk factors for use of a variety of licit and illicit recreational substances.