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Results for “Marijuana Use”

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PubMed1979

Parent-peer influence as a predictor of marijuana use.

Although there is some literature which discusses adolescent reference groups, none have utilized reference group theory to examine the relative impact of the parent and peer reference groups and to attempt to predict behavior among teenagers from this knowledge. This study attempts to correct this deficiency by examining the frequency of marijuana use in a nonrandom sample of college students from a large southwestern university. Ordinal type scales and tau-b provide a statistically strong degree of association between the type of reference group orientation and marijuana use. The results of this study show that the influence of the most salient reference group appears to be an important predictor of whether or not an individual may engage in the use of marijuana.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1999

Changes in aggressive behavior during withdrawal from long-term marijuana use.

RATIONALE: Even though marijuana is the most commonly abused illicit drug in the United States, it is still undetermined whether withdrawal after chronic use results in changes in aggressive behavior in humans. OBJECTIVE: The present study investigated the pattern and duration of changes in aggressive behavior in long-term marijuana users during a 28-day abstinence period verified by daily urines. METHOD: Chronic marijuana users who had smoked marijuana on at least 5000 occasions (the equivalent of smoking daily for approximately 14 years) and who were smoking regularly when recruited were studied on days 0 (when they were still smoking), 1 (during acute withdrawal), 3, 7 and 28 of a 28-day detoxification period. Aggressive behavior was measured using the Point Subtraction Aggression Paradigm. RESULTS: Compared to controls and to the pre-withdrawal data, chronic marijuana users displayed more aggressive behavior on days 3 and 7 of marijuana abstinence. These increases in aggressive responding returned to pre-withdrawal levels after 28 days and were paralleled by small, non-significant changes in depression and anxiety scores. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings confirm previous reports of an abstinence syndrome associated with chronic marijuana use and suggest that aggressive behavior should be an additional component of this syndrome.

Adult↗

PubMedDate not supplied

The adaptive significance of chronic marijuana use for adolescents and adults.

To the degree that the adults were aware of their difficulties, they saw marijuana as an escape from them, or as providing relief or enhancing their ability to cope with them. Neither they nor we saw marijuana as the cause of their problems. Rather, it served for most to help maintain them in a troubled adaptation, reenforcing their tendency not to look at, understand, or attempt to master their difficulties. It served to detach them from their problems, and helped them to regard even serious difficulties as unimportant. Marijuana provided a buffer zone of sensation that functioned as a barrier against self-awareness and closeness to others. Marijuana enabled the adolescents to avoid choices and challenges associated with growing up. The adults we studied appeared to have been obliged by time to make choices for which they were not prepared, and with which they were not satisfied. To the extent that their futures had caught up with them, they used marijuana in an attempt to diminish awareness of their limitations and convince themselves their problems were insignificant. If the adolescents used marijuana to detach themselves from troubled relationships with their families and to avoid planning for the future, what we have learned from the adult marijuana users provides a perspective on what these young persons' lives are likely to become.

Achievement↗

PubMed1988

Daily marijuana use and problem behaviors among adolescents.

Previous research by Johnston has shown that high school seniors who are daily marijuana users are distinct from the larger population of seniors in a variety of ways. This paper focuses on adolescent daily marijuana users. It replicates Johnston's work and also qualifies it in an important way. We find that level of marijuana use does not make a significant independent contribution to school problems when such critical factors as lifetime cigarette smoking, lifetime multiple drug use, whether respondent has ever used an illicit drug, rebelliousness, and gender, are taken into account. It is concluded that use of marijuana is only one element in a large and complex picture of interrelated problems and behaviors.

Achievement↗

PubMed1983

A comparison of marijuana use among Mexican-American and Anglo rural youth utilizing a matched-set analysis.

Attitudes and practices regarding marijuana use are examined in a sample of Mexican-American and Anglo adolescents living in Wyoming. The Mexican-American respondents were matched with Anglos who shared similar social and demographic characteristics, and matched-set analysis was used to determine significant differences on the basis of racial/ethnic identity. On all measures, Mexican-American youth were found to have significantly more positive attitudes toward marijuana and more extensive marijuana use. The implications of these findings are discussed.

Adolescent↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Correlates of occasional cigarette and marijuana use: are teens harm reducing?

This paper examines characteristics that distinguish heavy and occasional cigarette and marijuana use among U.S. high school seniors. High school seniors who completed the 1994 Monitoring the Future survey (N = 15,929) were classified as nonusers, occasional users, and heavy users of cigarettes and marijuana. Level of use was examined with regard to degree of perceived risk of regular use, perceived risk of occasional use as well as several psychosocial factors previously shown to be associated with use (e.g., peer use, close friends' approval of use, and self-esteem). Involvement with other drugs and high-risk behaviors across levels of use was also examined. Heavy users of cigarettes or marijuana reported significantly lower perceived risk of regular use of each substance compared to occasional users. Heavy and occasional users did not generally differ with regard to perceived risk of occasional use. Compared to heavy users, occasional cigarette or marijuana users reported significantly lower rates of illicit drug use, heavy alcohol use, and high-risk driving behaviors as well as fewer problem behaviors and higher grades. Some adolescents may moderate their cigarette and marijuana use to minimize harmful effects they associate with heavier use (i.e., they may be practicing harm reduction). Additional research is needed to better understand controlled substance use, and incorporate this information into prevention and cessation programs.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2001

Adolescent marijuana use and adult occupational attainment: a longitudinal study from age 18 to 28.

This report uses data from a nationally representative longitudinal sample to examine the relationship of marijuana use by high school seniors to occupational attainment 10 years later. Analyses were conducted separately by gender, with and without controlling for other variables. Control variables, all measured when respondents were seniors, were: academic performance, educational aspirations, and occupational aspirations. Results indicate that the influence of marijuana use on occupational attainment is considerably different for males and females.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2005

Perceived academic performance and alcohol, tobacco and marijuana use: longitudinal relationships in young community adolescents.

OBJECTIVE: To study longitudinal relationships between perception of academic performance (PAP) and alcohol, tobacco and marijuana use at age 13 and 15 years. METHOD: Self-report data from students in 27 schools in South Australia (n=1579) was analysed with ANCOVA and logistic regression, controlling for confounding factors (socio-demographic, parenting, depressive symptoms, anxiety, self-esteem, antisocial behaviour). RESULTS: Persistent or increasing perception of academic 'failure' (self-rated failing or below average performance), compared to improving or stable perception of average (or above) performance, from age 13 to 15 years, predicts more than weekly alcohol and tobacco use at age 15 (3- to 4-fold risks), in addition to increased risks from early substance use (e.g., 12- to 15-fold for triple combinations), controlling for confounders. Increased risks for more than weekly marijuana use at age 15 are 3-fold in those with increasing perception of failure; though relationships are fully mediated by antisocial behaviour in those with persistent perceptions of failure. CONCLUSION: Interventions to maintain or improve academic self-esteem in early adolescence may reduce risks for accelerating substance use in mid-adolescence.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1985

Laboratory detection of marijuana use.

Frequent smoking of cannabis (marijuana) has been shown to be associated with a decline in social, mental, and perceptual skills and, during adolescence, with maladaptive emotional development. Urinalysis for the detection of such use can be a useful tool for the physician responsible for treatment and counseling of adolescents who develop habitual use of marijuana. Primary methods for urinalysis detection of cannabis use include the homogeneous enzyme immunoassay (EMIT) and the radioimmunoassay. These and other methods are discussed along with the issues of "false" results (both positive and negative) and the "limits of interpretation" that can be placed on a positive urine result. The pharmacokinetics and metabolism of the active constituents of cannabis are described as well as the interpretation of urinalysis results as they relate to use patterns. Guidelines are presented for the primary care physician for selecting candidates for such testing and for the use of such tests in the treatment or counseling of adolescents for whom marijuana abuse has become a psychological and social problem.

Cannabinoids↗

PubMed1983

The effects of marijuana use during pregnancy. II. A study in a low-risk home-delivery population.

Results from a previous epidemiologic study indicate that marijuana use near term may elevate risk of abnormal progress of labor and meconium staining. We conducted a study of the association of self-reported marijuana use and perinatal problems in a series of 313 women enrolled in a home-birth center. The 41 marijuana users were similar to non-users with respect to most potentially confounding factors, but users had lower mean income and exhibited more tobacco and alcohol use during pregnancy than non-users. Users experienced slightly elevated rates of dysfunctional labor (43% vs. 35% in non-users), precipitate labor (13% vs. 8%) and meconium staining (17% vs. 13%); differences with respect to most other outcomes were smaller or nonexistent. The observed differences were smaller in both relative and absolute terms than those reported by the earlier study, and were little changed upon adjustment for potentially confounding factors (including alcohol use, cigarette use, parity and income). After accounting for statistical variation, the results appear consistent with the earlier findings but further research is recommended.

Adult↗

PubMed1994

Urban minority youth: alcohol and marijuana use and exposure to unprotected intercourse.

This article focuses on the use of alcohol and marijuana in the context of sexual relationships and the impact of these substances on the consistency of condom use by urban, minority youth. Regression models are presented to test for the effects of alcohol and marijuana use with sexual partners while controlling for the effects of respondents' sexual history. The results indicated that when alcohol or marijuana was used with a partner, the consistency of condom use decreased even when other variables related to sexual history were controlled for. Alcohol use had a greater negative effect on condom use for Hispanic men and marijuana for African-American women than it did for Hispanic women and African-American men. These findings argue for the need for targeted safer-sex intervention programs for urban, low-income, minority youth, and suggest that such programs may need to emphasize the increased risk of human immunodeficiency virus exposure that may result from substance use, casual sex, and sex with multiple partners.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2001

Television campaigns and adolescent marijuana use: tests of sensation seeking targeting.

OBJECTIVES: This study evaluated the effectiveness of targeted televised public service announcement campaigns in reducing marijuana use among high-sensation-seeking adolescents. METHODS: The study used a controlled interrupted time-series design in 2 matched communities. Two televised antimarijuana campaigns were conducted in 1 county and 1 campaign in the comparison community. Personal interviews were conducted with 100 randomly selected teenagers monthly in each county for 32 months. RESULTS: All 3 campaigns reversed upward developmental trends in 30-day marijuana use among high-sensation seekers (P < .002). As expected, low-sensation seekers had low use levels, and no campaign effects were evident. CONCLUSIONS: Televised campaigns with high reach and frequency that use public service announcements designed for and targeted at high-sensation-seeking adolescents can significantly reduce substance use in this high-risk population.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2002

Beer and bongs: differential problems experienced by older adolescents using alcohol only compared to combined alcohol and marijuana use.

Alcohol and other drug problems experienced by adolescents who use only alcohol compared to those who use both alcohol and marijuana (A + M) is studied. Using the national longitudinal survey of youth 1994 data, forward multiple regression analyses revealed that impulsivity, A + M use (compared to alcohol-only use), age, sex, religiosity, frequency of substance use were associated with a higher number of behavioral problems. Youth with more alcohol problems were found to be binge drinkers, impulsive, more frequent alcohol users, and nonHispanic. Implications and future research needs are discussed.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1995

Prenatal tobacco and marijuana use among adolescents: effects on offspring gestational age, growth, and morphology.

OBJECTIVE: This longitudinal study examined the effects of tobacco and marijuana use during pregnancy on the gestational age, growth, and morphology of 310 offspring of adolescents. Data were collected during 1990 through 1993. METHODOLOGY: The adolescents were drawn from a prenatal clinic in Pittsburgh, PA. They were interviewed at mid-pregnancy and at delivery to obtain information on tobacco, marijuana, and other substance use before and during pregnancy. Infants were examined 24 to 36 hours after birth. RESULTS: The average maternal age was 16.1 (range 12 to 18 years); 70% were African-American. Prenatal tobacco use was associated with reduced birth weight, length, head and chest circumferences, and ponderal index, but not gestational age or the number of morphological abnormalities. Prenatal marijuana exposure was associated with reduced gestational age. Among whites, first trimester marijuana exposure was associated with an increased rate of minor physical anomalies. Prenatal marijuana exposure was not associated with any growth outcomes. CONCLUSIONS: These effects of prenatal tobacco and marijuana use were prominent despite lower levels of prenatal exposure in the offspring of adolescent mothers as compared with the offspring of adult mothers from the same clinic. Young maternal age may increase the offspring's risk of negative effects from prenatal tobacco and marijuana exposure.

Abnormalities, Drug-Induced↗

PubMed1984

The effect of perceived neighborhood setting on self-reported tobacco, alcohol, and marijuana use among inner-city minority junior high school youth.

The relationship between neighborhood setting and drug use appears to be drug specific. For alcohol and tobacco a knowledge of peer (friends') use was highly predictive of personal use, independent of how tough or drug involved the neighborhood was thought to be, but quite dependent on neighborhood perceptions for personal marijuana use, becoming more predictive as the neighborhood was perceived as tougher and more drug involved. Knowledge of spare-time activities was predictive of tobacco and marijuana use (independent of neighborhood) but not predictive for alcohol use. The data suggest that because the relationships are complex, intervention/prevention strategies must not only be drug specific but must proceed on many fronts simultaneously. Some suggestions are offered, along with a discussion of findings which may help identify non-users and users in the same population.

Adolescent↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Maternal marijuana use during lactation and infant development at one year.

Prenatal marijuana exposure is associated with adverse perinatal effects. Very little is known about the effect of postnatal marijuana exposure on infant development. Postnatal exposure can result from maternal use of marijuana during lactation. Delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) transfers and concentrates in the mother's milk and is absorbed and metabolized by the nursing infant. The present study investigated the relationship between infant exposure to marijuana via the mother's milk and infant motor and mental development at one year of age. One hundred and thirty-six breast-fed infants were assessed at one year of age for motor and mental development. Sixty-eight infants were exposed to marijuana via the mother's milk. An additional 68 infants were matched to the marijuana-exposed infants on pre- and postpartum maternal alcohol and tobacco use. Marijuana exposure via the mother's milk during the first month postpartum appeared to be associated with a decrease in infant motor development at one year of age.

Adolescent↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Patterns of adolescent alcohol, cigarette, and marijuana use over a 6-month period.

In the current study, alcohol, cigarette, and marijuana use among adolescents (N= 794, 48.6% female) was assessed at two time points, and four patterns of use were identified: (1) abstainers: no lifetime use; (2) new users: no use at baseline but had used by the follow-up period; (3) experimenters: use prior to the baseline but no use in the period up to the follow-up; and (4) consistent users: self-report of use prior to the baseline and the follow-up. Mean levels of psychosocial variables (mastery, self-esteem, and parental social support) were compared across the four patterns of use for each substance. Only analyses including parental social support as the dependent variable were significant. Adolescents with higher levels of social support were more likely to be classified as abstainers or experimenters of alcohol than consistent users. More frequent users of cigarettes at baseline were likely to be classified as frequent users at the follow-up. The discussion focuses on the identification of the situational context of substance use for alcohol, cigarettes, and marijuana.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2000

Effects of frequent marijuana use on brain tissue volume and composition.

To investigate CNS effects of frequent marijuana use, brain tissue volume and composition were measured using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in 18 current, frequent, young adult marijuana users and 13 comparable, non-using controls. Automated image analysis techniques were used to measure global and regional brain volumes, including, for most regions, separate measures of gray and white matter. The marijuana users showed no evidence of cerebral atrophy or global or regional changes in tissue volumes. Volumes of ventricular CSF were not higher in marijuana users than controls, but were, in fact, lower. There were no clinically significant abnormalities in any subject's MRI. Sex differences were detected in several global volume measures.

Adult↗