Qualitative research to develop coping and refusal skills for youth aged 10 to 19 on smoking tobacco and marijuana

FRANÇAIS :
Cette étude basée sur un questionnaire rempli (en mars 2004) par un petit échantillon de 135 jeunes de 10 à 19 ans issus de différentes villes du pays (Halifax, Montréal, Regina, Toronto) visait à produire de l'information pertinente, dont un site Web, afin d'aider les jeunes à refuser de consommer du tabac et du cannabis et à apprendre à composer avec l'usage de ces produits. Elle met en lumière certains liens et facteurs synergiques entre la lutte contre le tabac et la consommation de cannabis chez les jeunes Canadiens. Plusieurs des jeunes interrogés pensent que le cannabis est moins nocif pour la santé que le tabac. Une des observations majeures est que la marijuana seraient plus facile à se procurer que le tabac du fait du grand nombre de revendeurs (dont des élèves) et du fait que les vendeurs de drogues ne demande pas de carte d'identité pour prouver l'âge légal de consommer. En annexe de l'étude, on trouvera le guide de discussion destiné aux élève francophones. (Extrait du document)
ENGLISH :
The overall goal of the qualitative research was to develop messages on tobacco and/or marijuana that will help build refusal and coping skills in Canadian youth who are pressured to smoke tobacco and/or marijuana and/or are exposed to second-hand smoke. More specifically, the research was designed to gain an understanding of how young Canadians would like to receive this messaging, examine youth perceptions of smoke and smoking (tobacco and marijuana) and validate and verify a series of previously developed coping and refusal skill messages on tobacco and marijuana issues. The target audience for this research is Canadian youth aged 10 19, with a representative mix of ethnic background, gender and smokers/non-smokers. A total of sixteen focus groups were held with specific segmented audiences of smokers and non-smokers in four markets Toronto, Montreal, Regina and Halifax between March 1st 9th, 2004. Among all age groups interviewed, it was generally viewed that access to cigarettes and marijuana was prevalent on school grounds. Marijuana was perceived to be easier to access than cigarettes, ironically, due to the legal age limit for smoking cigarettes and the fact that you have to buy cigarettes through traditional outlets. Generally, marijuana was perceived to be less harmful to those who used it, compared to cigarettes. This perception can largely be attributed to the messages that participants have been exposed to on the health effects of both cigarettes and second-hand smoke, relative to those of marijuana. Participants across all age groups said that they would prefer to hear messages about cigarettes and marijuana separately, as they perceive them as two different things and felt that people may not necessarily smoke both. Having separate messages would, in participants minds, ensure that the key messages being communicated would not be missed or ignored. (Extract of the publication)