College Students' Attitudes toward New York State's Drug Law as a Function of Geographical Location

Abstract

Thirty college students from three States (New York, Michigan, and Kansas; N = 90) responded to a ten-item Likert-style survey designed to gauge attitudes toward New York State's drug laws. The items selected for the survey were based on data from a previous study which used an open-ended questionnaire to sample student reaction to the then recently passed laws. The students in the present study significantly differed in their response to three of the items, yielding findings that were not open to any single interpretation. The study must be considered as only an exploratory first step toward attempting to measure and understand college students' attitudes toward drugs and drug laws. Such understanding will, in part, ultimately lead to the design of professional interventions effective in dealing with campus drug abuse.