Prevalence and correlates of hashish use in a national sample of high school seniors in the United States

Abstract

Background: Cannabis (marijuana) use and acceptance towards use are increasing in the US, and state-level policies are becoming more liberal. A wealth of research has been conducted to examine risk factors for use; however, studies rarely differentiate between different forms of marijuana. Objective: We sought to determine prevalence of use and delineate who is at risk for use of hashish, a more potent form of marijuana. Methods: We examined data from a nationally representative sample of high school seniors in the Monitoring the Future study (2007–2011; weighted n = 10 597). We determined how sociodemographic factors and reasons for marijuana use correlated with recent (12 month) hashish use. Results: Prevalence of recent hashish use was 6.5% and it was used by 18.3% of recent marijuana users. Hashish and other marijuana use tended to share many of the same correlates; however, associations were often stronger for hashish use. Females were consistently at low risk for use and users of other drugs were consistently at high risk for use. Black students tended to be at low risk for hashish use. Low risk of identifying as Hispanic or religious and high risk of higher personal income or going out more evenings per week for fun disappeared when controlling for other drug use. Using marijuana because the student felt he/she was “hooked” nearly doubled the odds for hashish use. Conclusions: This was the first national study to examine prevalence and correlates of hashish use. These findings can inform prevention in a time of increasing popularity of marijuana use.

• Adolescents
• epidemiology
• hashish
• marijuana
• prevalence
• socioeconomic status

Acknowledgements

Monitoring the Future data were collected through a research grant (R01 DA-01411) from the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), National Institutes of Health (NIH). The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the principal investigators, NIH or NIDA. The authors would like to thank the principal investigators (PIs: Johnston, Bachman, O’Malley, and Schulenberg) at The University of Michigan, Institute for Social Research, Survey Research Center, and the Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research for providing access to these data (http://www.icpsr.umich.edu/icpsrweb/landing.jsp). Michael Weitzman was supported in part, by NIH/NCI 3 P30 CA016087-33S1. The project otherwise was not funded. The National Institute on Drug Abuse, Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research, and Monitoring the Future principal investigators, had no role in analysis, interpretation of results, or in the decision to submit the manuscript for publication.

Declaration of interest

The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of this paper.