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A recently published Welsh study has identified several primary risk factors which predict
the use of marijuana among adolescents. Researchers evaluated teenagers to determine the
initiation and progression of experimental and regular marijuana use. Previous studies
indicate that marijuana is the most commonly used illicit drug. About half of all American
secondary-school students indicate having used the drug at some point in their lives.
Method
Participants were 13,718 middle and high school students from schools across the United
States. The students, age 11 to 21 years old, were drawn from the National Longitudinal
Study of Adolescent Health.
Examiners gathered data twice, with one year between interview sessions. At the first
interview, adolescents indicated how many times they had used marijuana in their lives;
one year later, they reported on their use since the first interview. Researchers divided
the participants into groups: experimental users, those who had used 1-10 times, and
regular users , who had used more than ten times.
Results
The majority of adolescents had not tried marijuana, and among those who had, experimental
use was more common than regular use. However, 55% of adolescents who had experimented
with marijuana by the first interview continued to use the drug one year later, either
experimentally, 37% or regularly, 18%. The great majority of regular users at the first
interview remained involved with marijuana, 53% on a regular basis and 20% experimentally.
These numbers indicate that initiation tends to result in continuation.
Three risk factors were the strongest predictor of marijuana use: own and peer involvement
with substances, delinquency, and school-related problems. These factors influenced all
stages of marijuana use development, from initiation of experimental use to failure to
discontinue regular use. The three factors were significant for both girls and boys, and
children in different age groups.
Conclusions
The authors suggested that intervention efforts aimed at the three key risk factors could
apply to adolescents in all stages of marijuana-use development. However, they stressed
that the greatest opportunities for intervention are during earlier stages of marijuana
involvement. In later stages, fewer risk factors are evident and genetic and biological
factors may become increasingly important and treatment more difficult.
Inquiries: Marianne B. M. van den Bree, PhD, Division of Psychological Medicine, Cardiff
University, Heath Park, Cardiff CF14 4XN, Wales
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