Characteristics of Female College Student Drug Use

The purpose of this study was to focus attention on distinctive features of female college student drug use in general and marijuana use in particular. A basic assumption underlying this research was that with recent depolarization of many sex-typed role conceptions we can expect that many women will engage in behavior which previously was predominantly associated with males. The use of marijuana, as well as various other drugs, by women is one such area where this change may be occurring. The results indicate that the gap in marijuana useage patterns between females and males has substantially narrowed. Female marijuana users were also found to use other drugs quite extensively, to have a significant number of friends who use marijuana, and to increase thier use of other drugs after having first used marijuana. The findings also elaborate on factors perceived as influential among both users and nonusers in the decision to use, continue using, and discontinuing the use of marijuana.