Marihuana Use by College Students: Three-Year Trends, 1970-1972

Abstract

Between 1970 and 1972 the trend in marihuana use by college students at the University of New Mexico was clearly upward. Not only had an increasing number of these students ever used marihuana, but they had done so at an earlier age and more often in each succeeding year. At the same time, the rate with which marihuana use was growing appeared to be decelerating. That is, the rate of increase in marihuana use had diminished between 1971 and 1972 as compared to the preceding 2-year period. Whether this latter trend signals the onset of a changing interest in marihuana use among our college students or simply reflects the fact that the proportion of college students who have not yet experienced marihuana has been decreasing over the years cannot be definitely determined from the present work.