Marijuana use tends to increase as teens and young adults transition to adulthood. A study surveyed high school seniors on their marijuana use. Those who planned to abstain from future use were asked to provide their reasons for doing so. One year later, the same students were again surveyed on their marijuana use habits.
The data was collected from high school seniors within a study called Monitoring the Future from 1977-2012 and was analyzed to look for connections between planning to abstain from marijuana use, reasons for not using marijuana, and outcomes of marijuana use one year later. The results showed that 70% of the students reported that they had not used marijuana when they were seniors in high school. The most common reasons for avoiding marijuana were concerns about physiological damage, not feeling like getting high, and going against personal beliefs. Those who had used marijuana had similar reasons for planning to abstain from future use, except they included that not enjoying being around others who use marijuana as a reason as well.
A year later, those who had abstained from marijuana use still had similar concerns as they did at the start of the study, as well as fear of becoming addicted, fear of leading to other drug use, and disapproval from a significant other. Those who had used marijuana included that they were worried about disapproval as well, and the potential of having a “bad trip” as part of their reasons for avoiding marijuana use.
Interestingly, within the 12 months after completing the original survey, 1 in 5 students who had not used marijuana became first time users. This suggests that the college environment can be a strong risk factor for previous nonusers.
High school seniors are likely to experience a lot of change in the year following graduation, so it is important to note that those who plan to abstain from marijuana use have specific reasons for doing so. Those who have used marijuana are likely to wish to abstain from marijuana for reasons that are related to negative experiences they have had or seen with use. This can be useful in prevention efforts by high schools and colleges.
Take Away: High school seniors are likely to plan to abstain from marijuana use for many specific reasons. Starting college is a significant risk factor for marijuana use, so knowledge of students’ perspective can be useful in prevention of marijuana use.