Jul 08, 2013
education, Ireland, stereotypes, study, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Data Archive
A study looking at survey data pooled in 2010/11 comes from Northern Ireland and reveals that marijuana use rates tend to be greater for those engaged in higher education, and are also consistently lower in groups that left education before age 15.
As it turns out, the group most frequently using marijuana in their lifetime is a composite of professionals and managers, whereas marijuana useage is lowest among semi-skilled and unskilled laborers. This information is also consistent with data gathered in the United States.
42.9% of Americans surveyed have admitted to trying marijuana at least once. Info gathered by the U.S. government in the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Data Archive reveals that of those surveyed who had attained less than a high school education, 25% have tried marijuana and 75% have not. 41.6% of high school graduates have tried marijuana, and 58.4% have not tried it. For those who have received between one and three years of college education, 49.8% have tried it and 50.2% have not. Finally, those who received four or more years of college education had a 45.5% population who have used marijuana, and 54.5% have not used marijuana.
This data holds that a predisposition towards marijuana use does not exist for those who are uneducated. In fact, the exact opposite is quite apparent. While the study only shows that increased education is an indicator of potential marijuana use, it is possible that with increased education comes more knowledge about the relative safety of marijuana compared to alcohol and other drugs.
It is clear, however, that the many of the negative stereotypes of marijuana users are proving to be nothing but myths.
