Loading ...Who Uses Marijuana
In 1979, 51% of high school seniors reported that they had engaged in at least occasional marijuana use. Contrast that against 1992, in which only 22% of high school seniors made the same mistake. Though it has fluctuated some, current use rates for seniors hover just above 30%. 10th graders currently report using at approximately 22% of the student population. In 2008, just over 10% of eighth graders admitted using marijuana within the past 12 months. (Source: MTF, 2009)
Use of Alcohol
Teens who get drunk at least once a month are 18 times more likely to use marijuana, and significantly more likely to associate with drug users than teens who don’t drink.
Use of Tobacco
Those who smoke tobacco are much more likely to smoke marijuana, than are those who never try 
cigarettes. 80% of those who do not smoke, characterize marijuana use as a “big deal”. This is compared to only 41% of actual marijuana smokers. Tobacco smokers are only 3 points away from those who admit to marijuana use. At 44%, most tobacco smokers believe that marijuana use is no big deal; a rate nearly identical to those who admit marijuana use. (Source: CASA)
Personal Views
A strong link has been found between the degree to which a child perceives drug use as “risky” or “acceptable”, and their subsequent use patterns. This correlation has been demonstrated across entire generations. An eighth grader who feels that marijuana use is “not a big deal”, or that it is “not very risky”, is highly likely to have used marijuana by the time he is a twelfth grader. Though this may seem like common sense, many parents either fail to acknowledge this causal relationship, or fail to accept their role in creating it.
Parental Involvement
Repetitive research conducted by Columbia University has found that children who have seen one or both parents drunk, are 3 times more likely to use marijuana. (They are also more than twice as likely to engage in frequent under age drinking, and three times as likely to experiment with cigarettes.) Parents who believe that marijuana is “not a big deal” are more than twice as likely to have a child that smokes it. Parents who feel that future drug use by their teens is a natural or acceptable phase are 10 times more likely to have a teenage drug user, than are parents who do not have such expectations.
Academics, Religion, Family Life
Teens who get mostly A’s are less likely to use marijuana than are those who get C’s. A similar relationship exists between those who report having an excellent relationship with their father, versus those who claim a fair or poor relationship. Teens who report having a strong relationship with their mother, and teens who attend weekly religious service, are both less likely to use marijuana than those who don’t. (Sources: MTF-NIDA, BTS-CASA)
Decades of well funded and credible research have isolated several predictive factors associated with drug use. For more on this topic, consult our “Why Kids Use Drugs” page.
