A Meta-Analysis of the Relationship between Cannabis, Opiates, Cocaine, Heroin, or other Illegal Drug Use and Student Academic and Behavioral Outcomes

Abstract

The meta-analysis, that included 75 studies, examined the relationship between illegal drug consumption, on the one hand, and student academic and behavioral outcomes, on the other, for the middle school to college grade levels. The meta-analysis first (research question #1) addressed whether there is a statistically significant relationship between illegal drug consumption and student academic and behavioral outcomes. A second question assessed whether there was a statistically significant relationship between the consumption of specific kinds of illegal drugs and student academic and behavioral outcomes (research question #2). The third analysis distinguished between the effects for educational- and behavioral-outcomes to see whether the consumption of illegal drugs was associated with one more than the other (research question #3). Fourth, there were analyses to determine whether the effects that emerged under the first two research questions differed by the age of the student (research question #4). The fifth analysis (research question #5) assessed whether the effects that emerged under the first two research questions differed by the race of the student. The results indicated widespread statistically significant effects for all the drugs under study. The extent of the effects were considerably greater for college students than they were for middle school students.