ABSTRACT. Objective: Given the popular association between April 20 ("4/20") and marijuana, the present study examined marijuana use and consequences on 4/20 compared with other days in order to test whether 4/20 is a high-risk, event-specific marijuana use holiday among college student marijuana users. Method: Fifty-nine college student marijuana users from three different, large U.S. universities located in Virginia, New Mexico, and Colorado completed daily brief surveys (<10 minutes) over a 12-day (April 15-April 26) period assessing prior-day marijuana use (i.e., percentage of users who consumed marijuana, number of unique marijuana use sessions, subjective high/intoxication while under the influence of marijuana, and number of grams of marijuana consumed) and marijuana-related consequences. Results: Using oneway repeated-measures analyses of variance, we found that (a) 50% of students reported using marijuana on 4/20, which was significantly more than weekdays (28%) and weekend days (37%); (b) students reported a significantly higher number of unique marijuana use sessions on 4/20 (M = 1.47) compared with weekdays (M = 0.91); and (c) students reported a significantly higher number of grams consumed on 4/20 (M = 0.79) compared with weekdays (M = 0.35) and weekend days (M = 0.47). Conclusions: Our study provides preliminary support that 4/20 is a day associated with increased marijuana use but provides little evidence for an association with more problematic use. (J. Stud. Alcohol Drugs, 78, 134-139, 2017)
This study examined marijuana-use motives and protective behavioral strategies (PBS) as within- and between-subject predictors of marijuana-related outcomes. Furthermore, we explored differences between a specific marijuana-related event (i.e., 4/20) compared with typical weekend/weekday use. Forty-three college student marijuana users (31 females) completed daily surveys for 12 days (April 15–April 26, 2016). Four motives (coping, conformity, enhancement, and social) were associated with more negative consequences within-subjects. Enhancement and conformity motives were also associated with a higher number of use sessions, and expansion motives were associated with higher subjective high. Marijuana PBS use (total score) was associated with fewer sessions and lower subjective high within-subjects. Social motives were higher, whereas PBS use and coping motives were lower on 4/20 compared with other days. Our findings support PBS and certain use motives as promising intervention targets for college student marijuana users.
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