AWARENESS OF THE EFFECTS OF CANNABIS (GANJA) AMONG MALAYSIAN PUBLIC UNIVERSITY STUDENTS

Abstract

This study aims to identify the Malaysian public university students’ knowledge about cannabis, their experiences of touching cannabis and coming in contact with friends involved in the abuse of cannabis. A total of 6818 randomly selected students from 20 Malaysian public universities (MPU) were involved in this study. This study implements a quantitative approach using percentage and frequency. Drug Knowledge, Experience and Friends Questionnaire (Kamarudin et al., 2010) were employed for data collection. Results of the study showed that only a small number of the respondents had the experience of touching cannabis and know of friends who are using the drug. Less than 25% among male and female students in both categories had knowledge about the effects of using cannabis. The findings of the study revealed that MPU students’ knowledge about the effects of cannabis and the risks associated with its use were scarce.