NCJ Number
110786
Date Published
1986
Length
18 pages
Annotation
Using ethnographic techniques and formal interviews, this study examined patterns of drug use and how marijuana fits into the daily lives of youth aged 12 to 20 years.
Abstract
Subjects included 40 randomly selected community youth, 20 routine drug users who used marijuana daily, and 20 youth in local detention facilities. Of the community sample, 73 percent drank, 38 percent used marijuana, and 63 percent smoked, as compared to marijuana users, all of whom drank alcohol and all but one of whom smoked. Drug-abusing youth had turbulent family lives. Unconventionality was a key factor distinguishing the home environments of users, although many users valued the unconventionality and saw their experiences as resulting in skills and independence. No significant differences were found in religion and work experience of drug users and the random sample. Youth in both groups had rules about use versus addiction: neither accepted addicts or addiction and both emphasized self-control. Compared to the random sample, daily users had larger and less intimate friendship groups. Few daily users used marijuana as a way to cope with school. Rather, use appeared tied to ambivalence about conventional goals, commitment to to adventurousness, and as a social lubricant with peers and a means of alleviating boredom. 21 references.