A study of drug abuse in a group of South African university students

Seventeen informal interviews and 1597 questionnarie responses provided an investigation of drug abuse in a group of South African students. Legal problems in South Africa make research of drug abuse (and indeed many other areas of social relations), particularly interviewing, extremely hazardous and therefore uncommon. Not surprisingly, in view of this, the interviews revealed findings inconsistent with the questionnaire data in many areas. Indeed, the informal technique demonstrated the need for more personal research in this field rather than grouped data questionnaires, the latter being seemingly responsible for the myth of the stereotypic drug taker.