Casual Leisure in the U.S. and Southeast Asia

Paper Summary:

The paper predicted that drug/alcohol abuse by students would be more significant among U.S. students than among Asian ones. Asia is relatively conservative in its outlook, while the United States is almost synonymous with experimentation and leisure. However, the research found that the use of currently illicit substances was socially acceptable in Southeast Asia. Also, the major growing areas for poppies and marijuana are located in or very close to Southeast Asia, making transportation easy and cheap. The paper concludes that U.S. students are therefore less likely to be heavy drug/alcohol users than are Southeast Asia students.

Contents:
Introduction
College Lifestyle and Drug/Substance Use in the United States
The Situation in Southeast Asia
Drug Abuse Recorded in Various Countries and Areas in Asia
Conclusion

From the Paper:

"In 1989, Rojek recognized that the negative side of leisure is a central factor in society when he said, "an obvious and indisputable fact about leisure in modern society is that many of the most popular activities are illegal" (1999, p. 82). Among college students in the United States, he found that the illegal activities were underage drinking and illegal drug use. Findings reported by Hoover, based on a survey of students at 140 U.S. college campuses, showed that "two in five college students regularly drink five or more alcoholic beverages in a row, which was significantly linked to the frequency with which they encountered secondary effects of alcohol consumption including date rape, scholastic difficulties, and violence (Hoover, 2002, pp. 34-37). A study by Tucker and Shinew (1995) examined the leisure pursuits of college age students, and found that 86% of those surveyed "consumed alcohol at least once a week and 40% used illegal drugs, primarily marijuana" (unpaged study). This material was based on self-reports, however, and might be skewed in favor of more alcohol and drug use, or less."

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