Abstract:
Background: The aim of this study was to examine the prevalence of cannabis and amphetamine use and to determine
its associated factors among school-going adolescents in Ghana.
Method: The 2012 Ghanaian Global School-based Student Health Survey on 3632 adolescents aged 11–19 years
(mean = 15.1 years; SD = 1.4) was used. Participants for this study were sampled from selected junior (JHS) and senior
high schools (SHS) in all the 10 administrative regions of Ghana. A two-stage cluster sampling design was used to
select 25 senior high schools to represent all the 10 regions of Ghana. Information was collected with a self-administered
structured questionnaire that contained information on demographics, alcohol, tobacco and other drug use,
violence, and a range of other health-related behaviours.
Results: The result showed that past-month cannabis use was 5.3% and lifetime amphetamine use was 7.1% among
students. In multivariate model, after controlling for other variables, school truancy and current cigarette smoking
were associated with both past-month cannabis and lifetime amphetamine use. The number of close friends was
associated with only past-month cannabis use. School environment factors (bullying victimisation and having been
attacked) and parental substance use were associated with lifetime amphetamine use.
Conclusion: This study identified a number of risk factors, including parental substance use and various risk behaviours,
for both past-month cannabis and lifetime amphetamine use. School-based health intervention programmes
should be developed taking into consideration the risk factors associated with cannabis and amphetamine use
among school-going adolescents.
