Abstract
The purpose of the study was to identify the stages of acquisition of gateway drugs in fourth, fifth, and sixth graders. The Stages of Acquisition model is a primary prevention application of the Stages of Change model. The subjects in the study were 811 students from seventeen elementary schools in Arkansas and Missouri. The instrument elicited information regarding the stages of acquisition and individual self-reported drug use. The data were analyzed using frequency, distribution, discriminant analysis, and correlation analyses. Stage placement was confirmed using a series of drug use measures. Results confirmed the existence of discrete stages of acquisition. Results supported the concept of gateway drugs in that subjects indicated they had progressed further through the stages of acquisition of alcohol use than through the stages of acquisition of cigarettes use, smokeless tobacco use, or marijuana use.
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