Early Teen Marijuana Use

Risks for the Transition to Young Adulthood

This study assessed the relationship of early teen marijuana use to performance of developmental tasks integral to the transition to young adulthood. The tasks concerned intimacy, education, and work and social conformity. African American (N = 617) and Puerto Rican (N = 531) youths completed questionnaires in their classrooms. Five years later they were individually interviewed. The results estimated the increased likelihood that early teen marijuana users would make an inadequate transition to young adult social roles. Analyses examining the association between early teen marijuana use and 20 outcome variables found significant relationships for 10 of them: (a) having lower educational and occupational expectations; (b) being suspended or expelled from school, fired from jobs, \high\' at school or work, collecting welfare; and (c) rebelliousness, not participating in productive activities, not attending church, and being an unmarried parent.

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