Lessons Learned
How Offered?
In general, most drug offers are simple requests, such as "would you like a beer?" or "do you want to smoke a joint?" This finding held for 97% of the middle school students who reported drug offers, as well as the majority of high school students and 68% of the college students.
Another type of implicit offers includes availability (the drug is available in the situation without any offer being made).
But, those adolescents who accept a drug offer typically receive a more complex offer. In fact, those who receive more persuasive offers beyond a simple offer will be more likely to accept the drug offer. These persuasive offers typically include minimization of the harmful effects; appeal to group norms ("everybody is doing it"); or statement of benefits of doing the drug ("it'll make you feel good.")