Knowledge and perceptions of illegal drugs in a sample of Pre-teenage Children

Abstract

While it has become apparent that increasing numbers of pre-teenage children are experimenting with illegal drugs, relatively little is known about the drug-related knowledge and attitudes of this age group. This paper describes the knowledge and perceptions of illegal drugs held by a sample of 216 pre-teenage children in Glasgow and Newcastle. While about a quarter of the children thought that illegal drugs were equally bad, the remainder were able to differentiate between them to varying degrees. In particular, cannabis was frequently regarded as being less harmful than other illicit drugs, especially by those who had used the drug themselves. The children's knowledge of illegal drugs as a whole was found to be limited, vague and often erroneous. The challenges which the children's knowledge and perceptions of drugs present for drug education are discussed.