NCJ Number
196994
Date Published
January 2002
Length
3 pages
Annotation
This National Household Survey on Drug Abuse report from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration focuses on youth’s perceptions of neighborhood crime and marijuana usage.
Abstract
Youth perception of neighborhood crime rates and their subsequent usage of marijuana is discussed in this year 2000 National Household Survey on Drug Abuse report from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. Survey data from youths 12- to 17- years-old indicate that 23 percent of respondents perceived that there was much crime, particularly the selling of drugs, in their neighborhoods. Black and Hispanic youths agreed with statements that their neighborhoods had a lot of crime, drug selling, street fights, and abandoned buildings more often than did Asian and white youths. Furthermore, Hispanic youths perceived more graffiti in their neighborhoods than did Black, white, and Asian respondents. Survey results indicate that marijuana usage was higher among the youths who perceived high rates of neighborhood criminal activity and abandoned buildings than it was among youths who perceived low rates of these neighborhood characteristics. 4 Figures