Marijuana and College Students: A Critical Review of the Literature

Blavos, Alexis; Glassman, Tavis; Sheu, Jiunn-Jye; DeNardo, Faith; Diehr, Aaron J.

doi:10.1080/19325037.2017.1292878

Cited by 25 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 48 publications

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“…The integration of cannabis into the student culture was shown by perceptions of the prevalence of their peers' lifetime use (82%) and regular use (40.8% males, 36.7% females), the reported ease of acquiring cannabis, and students' perceptions that cannabis is likely to be available at a typical student party. Despite past research showing that students overestimate their peers' use of cannabis, 18,[34][35][36] our reported rates of prevalence align closely with those reported from a robust NZ longitudinal study (lifetime use = 80%, regular use = 34%), 31 suggesting that students' perceptions of their peers' cannabis use might not have been overestimated in our sample. The examination of ease of acquisition and availability of cannabis as a function of whether students had more or less regular-using peers revealed that peers influence cannabis use, in accordance with Goldstick et al 32 Having a larger proportion of friends who are regular users increases the reported ease of acquisition and the reported likelihood of cannabis being available at a typical social occasion.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 70%

“…Although the influence of peers decreases from adolescence into the mid to late twenties, perceived peer behavior remains an important influence on cannabis use 32 and correlates with actual use. 27,33 It should be noted, however, that there is a tendency for students to overestimate their peers' use 34 and these normative discrepancies can lead to misconceptions that certain risk behaviors are more common than they actually are, 18,35,36 resulting in greater engagement in the behavior. 16 Given the influence of peers, and to a lesser extent gender, integration and perceptions of informal and formal controls were also examined as a function of gender and whether or not students had a large number of regular-using peers.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Norms involve social expectations of behavior and typically include descriptive norms (perceptions of the prevalence of a behavior) and injunctive norms (expectations of what ought to be done, measured through approval/disapproval) for engaging in a certain behavior. 15 Past research has shown that social norms 16 - 18 and injunctive norms, in particular, are strong predictors of cannabis attitudes and use. 19 However, because injunctive norms focus on the approval/disapproval of specific behaviors, findings are limited in their ability to identify the attitudes behind the norms.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Control of Recreational Cannabis in a New Zealand University Sample: Perceptions of Informal and Formal Controls

Robertson

Tustin

2020

Subst�Abuse

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An increasing number of countries have, or are moving towards, reforming cannabis policies. New Zealand is also moving in this direction and the government will hold a referendum on the legalization of recreational cannabis in September 2020. To inform imminent public and political discussions it is important to understand how current cannabis use is controlled. Research suggests that cannabis law has been ineffective in NZ. Internationally, informal controls, rather than the law, have been found to shape cannabis use by creating a threshold for normalization, but the attitudes shaping this threshold are unknown. This study aimed to examine drug acceptability attitudes, specifically students’ attitudes towards the illegal use of cannabis and their attitudes towards peers who abstain, sometimes use, or are heavy users of cannabis, to identify the factors that control cannabis use. Using a mixed methods approach, university students recruited their peers (N = 535) to complete a pen and paper survey investigating perceptions towards 3 cannabis user prototypes (abstainers, moderate users, heavy users), concern for legality of cannabis use, and the integration of cannabis into the student culture (perceptions of peers’ use, ease of acquisition, and availability). Perceptions of peers’ lifetime and regular use were 82% and 38.5%, respectively. Participants rated cannabis as easy to acquire and likely to be available at a typical student social occasion. The majority stated that the law does not deter use (92.7%); participants perceived the law to be soft and that they are unlikely to get caught. Participants’ descriptions of the 3 cannabis user prototypes revealed a threshold for normalization. For instance, abstaining was perceived to be associated with positive attributes (such as being studious), linked to being less sociable, and linked to being less likely to be judged. Moderate use of cannabis was perceived to be normal and sociable. Heavy use was perceived to be associated with having negative attributes, such as being addicted, unhealthy, and an underachiever, and negative drug labels. Our findings revealed that cannabis use is not controlled by the law, but by informal thresholds of control. Moderate cannabis use is accepted whereas heavy cannabis use is not. We extended research by identifying the attitudes shaping these thresholds, in particular that negative outcomes associated with heavy use deters the normalization of this behavior. We argue that policy must be informed by, and build on, these informal controls. The negative perceptions associated with heavy use also raise concerns regarding the well-being of heavy users, and coupled with the ineffectiveness of cannabis law, lend support towards a health model for regulating cannabis. Furthermore, insights into the negative perceptions associated with heavy use could inform health interventions on the types of concerns that will resonate with users.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 70%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Control of Recreational Cannabis in a New Zealand University Sample: Perceptions of Informal and Formal Controls

Robertson

Tustin

2020

Subst�Abuse

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“…College and university students may be at particular risk: not only are they likely to encounter opportunities to use cannabis as part of their college environments ( Allen et al, 2017 , Pinchevsky et al, 2012 ) and alter their attitudes and initiate use once in college ( Pinchevsky et al, 2012 , Stewart and Moreno, 2013 ), they are also likely to experience multiple adverse educational, health, and other consequences of such cannabis use, including dependence ( Suerken et al, 2016 , Bravo et al, 2019 , Gunn et al, 2018 , Arria et al, 2017 , Martinez et al, 2015 , Caldeira et al, 2012 , Arria et al, 2015 , Meda et al, 2017 , Arria et al, 2016 , Caldeira et al, 2008 , Pearson et al, 2017 ). Cannabis use remains relatively common across campuses ( Schulenberg et al, 2019 , Arria et al, 2017 , Pearson et al, 2017 , Blavos et al, 2017 , Patrick et al, 2019 ), and it may become even more so given that the perceptions of its normativeness are high among university students ( Dempsey et al, 2016 , Kollath-Cattano et al, 2020 ) and the perceptions of its harmfulness are declining among youth in general ( Pacek et al, 2015 , Burdzovic Andreas, 2019 , Kilwein et al, 2020 ). Furthermore, this population of young adults may be particularly sensitive to the ongoing shifts in the legal status of cannabis in many jurisdictions ( Miller et al, 2017 , Kerr et al, 2018 , Barker and Moreno, 2020 , Wang et al, 2019 , Jones et al, 2018 , Alley et al, 2020 ), including the pending drug reform and the possibility of decriminalization of recreational cannabis use in Norway in the near future ( Høring - Rusreform fra straff til hjelp, 2020 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cannabis use among Norwegian university students: Gender differences, legalization support and use intentions, risk perceptions, and use disorder

Andreas

Sivertsen

Skogen

2021

Addictive Behaviors Reports

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Highlights Past year cannabis use was fairly common in a sample of Norwegian college students. About 6% of users possibly met criteria for use disorder, function of use frequency. Legalization attitudes and risk perceptions were associated with cannabis use risk. Intentions to use cannabis if legal were evident even among some current non-users. Many non-users expressed uncertainty in legalization attitudes and risk perceptions.

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“…In 2018, about 35% of young adults aged 18 to 25 reported past-year cannabis use (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Service Administration, 2019). Rates of cannabis use and trauma exposure on U.S. colleges are high (Blavos et al, 2017; Johnston et al, 2016). In a sample of students from 11 colleges, Suerken and colleagues (2014) found that 30% of students reported using cannabis before college and 8.5% of students who did not use cannabis before college reported initiating use during their first year.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

A longitudinal mediational investigation of risk pathways among cannabis use, interpersonal trauma exposure, and trauma-related distress.

Hicks¹,

Bountress²,

Adkins³

et al. 2023

Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy

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Objective: College students are at high risk for cannabis use, interpersonal trauma (IPT) exposure, and trauma-related distress (TRD). Two phenotypic etiologic models posited to explain associations between cannabis use and trauma-related phenotypes are the self-medication (trauma/TRD ! cannabis use) and high-risk (cannabis use ! trauma/TRD) hypotheses. The primary objective of the present study was to investigate direct and indirect associations among cannabis use, IPT exposure, and TRD above and beyond established covariates. Method: The current study used data from the first assessment (i.e., baseline survey at Year 1 Fall) and two follow-up assessments (i.e., Year 1 Spring and Year 2 Spring) from an ongoing longitudinal study on college behavioral health. Participants were 4 cohorts of college students (n = 9,889) who completed measures of demographics, substance use, IPT, and TRD. Indirect effects of IPT on cannabis through TRD (i.e., self-medication) and cannabis on TRD through IPT (i.e., high-risk), including tests of covariate effects (e.g., gender, age, race, cohort, alcohol, nicotine), were simultaneously estimated using a longitudinal mediation modeling framework. Results: Results suggest that more IPT exposure increases risk for TRD and subsequent nonexperimental (use 6þ times) cannabis use, and that experimental (use 1-5 times) and nonexperimental cannabis use increases risk for IPT exposure and subsequent TRD. Conclusions: Both the self-medication and high-risk hypotheses were supported. Findings support a bidirectional causal relationship between cannabis use and trauma-related phenotypes. Additionally, results highlight areas for colleges to intervene among students to help reduce cannabis use and create a safer environment. Clinical Impact StatementThe study suggests that cannabis use prior to college may increase risk for future interpersonal trauma exposure and development of trauma-related distress (TRD). Additionally, this study suggests that incoming college students with a greater history of interpersonal trauma exposure may be at increased risk for developing TRD and using greater amounts of cannabis use. Our results emphasize the importance of providing education about the risks of cannabis use to college students, as well as processing interpersonal traumas at they are a strong predictor of posttrauma psychopathology and greater amounts of cannabis use, which is a risk factor for problematic cannabis use.

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Marijuana and College Students: A Critical Review of the Literature

Cited by 25 publications

References 48 publications

Control of Recreational Cannabis in a New Zealand University Sample: Perceptions of Informal and Formal Controls

Control of Recreational Cannabis in a New Zealand University Sample: Perceptions of Informal and Formal Controls

Cannabis use among Norwegian university students: Gender differences, legalization support and use intentions, risk perceptions, and use disorder

A longitudinal mediational investigation of risk pathways among cannabis use, interpersonal trauma exposure, and trauma-related distress.

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