The high, the money, and the fame: The emergent social context of “new marijuana” use among urban youth

Abstract

This paper describes cultural factors associated with the use of high‐potency marijuana among inner‐city youth in a midsized northeastern city. While high‐potency marijuana has been available and used nationally for over a decade, surveys of drug use do not include items on what “new marijuana” contains and how and under what circumstances it is used. Few studies of marijuana use have been conducted in recent years. This paper, based on ongoing ethnographic and epidemiological study of pathways to heavy drug use among youth and young adults in Hartford, examines the sociocultural context of new marijuana use as an emergent trend. After considering the street market for high‐potency marijuana, social rituals and meanings surrounding its distribution and use, and links with hip hop culture, the paper concludes with a critical analysis of the ways in which the drug market drives drug sales, drug use, and drug‐use sequencing in inner‐city neighborhoods.

Key words:

• drug trends
• marijuana
• public health