Asian/Pacific Islander Americans and Substance Abuse
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sian/Pacific Islander Americans as a group have very low rates of substance abuse—often registering the lowest rates of any major racial group in the United States. However, there are significant differences in use among Asian/Pacific Islander ethnic populations. For example, Pacific Islanders have illicit drug rates sometimes equivalent to or higher than the other racial groups. At the same time, Southeast Asians and Chinese consistently report the lowest rates of drug use of all groups traditionally studied.
There are some metabolic factors in Asians which lead to a greater sensitivity to alcohol. There is a greater susceptibility to lung cancer amomg Asian Americans (and to colorectal cancer among Japanese Americans), thus tobacco smoking increases their cancer risks. This diverse community has had many different historical experiences and cultural traditions that affect substance abuse patterns. Scholars have pointed to the 3000-year-old Chinese practice of healing arts as a possible influence on that community's very low rate of substance abuse. In the case of Vietnamese and Cambodian refugees, life-shattering war experiences have caused high rates of post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), which is linked to substance abuse.
However, family cohesion, traditional respect for authority, and the time-honored focus on education constitute protective factors that contribute to low rates of substance abuse among Asian/Pacific Islander Americans.
Tobacco
According to the 2000 National Household Survey on Drug Abuse (NHSDA), only 8.4 percent of Asian youth ages 12 to 17 smoked cigarettes in the past month, half the rate of White youth. The only major ethnic group to smoke less than Asians are African Americans (6.1 percent). However, among those who smoke habitually, Asian Americans smoke more cigarettes per day (16.8) than any other group and have a daily smoking rate larger than African Americans and similar to Hispanics. Among Asian adolescent subgroups, Koreans smoked the most past month (12.8 percent) and Chinese the least (4.9 percent). Cigar use is almost nonexistant among Asian Americans.
Alcohol
The 2000 NHSDA shows Asian youth drinking rates in the past month to be exceedingly low—the lowest of all ethnic groups, with the rate steeply declining from 1999 to 2000: 11.8 percent to 7.1 percent. No other group has seen such a precipitous decline (the White rate, 18.4, actually went up in that period). Binge drinking rates (five drinks at a sitting at least once a month) for Asian youth (4 percent) are also the lowest measured, just below the very low rate of African Americans (4.4 percent), while White and Hispanic youth binge drinking is almost three times as high. But with heavy alcohol use (or five binges in the past month), the rate for Asian youth, though very small, nearly doubled from 1999 to 2000 (.5 to .9 percent), the largest rate of increase of any ethnic group. In general, Asians who do drink habitually drink more per day than any other ethnic group. A California survey, the Student Substance Use Survey (CSS) found a 6-month drinking rate of 50 percent for Pacific Islanders--the highest for all Asian/Pacific Islanders. Filipinos are next (13.2 percent past month), most often using wine, and the Chinese the lowest (5.8 percent), most often using beer.
Marijuana and Other Drugs
Past month marijuana use for Asian youth 12 to 17 fell from 5.8 to 2.5 percent from 1999 to 2000, a steeper decline than for any other group (rates for Whites and Native Americans went up to 7.8 and 19.9 percent, respectively). Among Asian subgroups, Filipino youth have the highest past month marijuana use rate (5 percent) and Japanese the lowest (1.4 percent). However, over the age of 26, Vietnamese Americans have the highest marijuana current use rate (2.8 percent) among Asians, almost equal to Whites (2.9 percent).
While past month hallucinogen use for Asian youth is also very low, it is equal to the highest rate, 1.4 percent (for Whites), and it is increasing, while rates for other racial groups have either declined or stabilized. The CSS study shows Southeast Asians ranking first of all Asian Americans in cocaine use and highest in amphetamine use in contrast to Pacific Islanders, who rank low in both categoties but high in marijuana and inhalants. Although Asian American youth abuse of prescription drugs is lowest of the major racial groups (2.2 percent current users), it has more than tripled from 1999 to 2000--the highest rate of increase of any group.
Sources: 2000 National Household Survey on Drug Abuse Summary Tables, 2001, SAMHSA; Developing Cultural Competence in Asian-American and Pacific Islander Communities: Opportunities in Primary Health Care and Substance Abuse Prevention, 1999, SAMHSA; Skager and Austin, Fourth Biennial Statewide Survey of Drug and Alcohol Use by California Students in Grades 7, 9, and 11, 1993, California Department of Justice. For Asian language drug information, see www.druganswer.com.
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U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration Center for Substance Abuse Prevention www.samhsa.gov
