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Marijuana Use In College

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Marijuana use during college and its effects on life outcomes Elizabeth Wong St. Edward’s University Introduction Attitudes about marijuana usage are dynamic amongst college-aged individuals. Additionally, marijuana use is influenced by many outside factors, such as timing and rate of exposure, familial factors, educational goals and expectations, and social norms and influences. Emerging medical claims about marijuana’s potential medical benefits further influences the climate around marijuana usage. These factors are contributing to an increased need to understand how college students perceive marijuana usage and also the effects potential marijuana usage may have on them and their life outcomes. Theme X: Marijuana …show more content…

The researchers designed this experiment to overcome issues associated with previous studies by using data that spanned a seven-year period. The goal of the study was to assess post-college health as a measure of health outcomes for college marijuana users. 1,253 first year college freshmen were recruited for the study. These participants then had an interview with researchers each year for seven years to assess their health status over time. Impairment caused by injury, emotional/mental health issues, quality of life, and illness were assessed to measure health outcomes. Researchers created 6 trajectories to categorize participants (non-use, low-stable, late-increase, early-decline, college peak, and chronic). Calderia, et al., (2012) found that non-users displayed the best health outcomes while late-increase users and chronic users showed the worst health outcomes among participants. Differences among trajectory groups were not noticeable in year one but post-college trajectories differed significantly. The results demonstrated that heavy marijuana use in college can produce negative health outcomes in post-college life. The data suggests that the more frequent marijuana usage is, the more likely someone is to experience negative health …show more content…

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