Among over 3,000 college students, 30% had used marijuana before college, and 8.5% started during freshman year, with cigarette use, alcohol use, and living on campus as key predictors of initiation.
Read this if you want to understand marijuana use patterns during the transition to college.
8.5% of previously non-using students initiated marijuana during freshman year
What the researchers found
Nearly 30% of students arriving at college reported lifetime marijuana use. Among those who had never used before college, 8.5% initiated during freshman year.
Predictors of having used marijuana before college included: having $100+ monthly spending money, rarely or never attending church, current cigarette/alcohol/hookah use, lifetime use of other illicit drugs, and higher sensation-seeking tendencies.
Predictors of initiating marijuana during freshman year were different: Hispanic ethnicity, living on campus, and current cigarette and alcohol use. The shift from pre-college to freshman-year predictors suggests the college environment itself creates new risk factors, particularly residential living.
Why it matters
College represents a major transition period for substance use. Understanding that nearly one in ten previously non-using students starts marijuana during freshman year, and that living on campus is a key risk factor, has implications for campus-based prevention programming.
The numbers in context
3,146 students from 11 colleges. 30% had used marijuana before college. 8.5% initiated during freshman year. Risk factors for initiation: Hispanic ethnicity, campus residence, cigarette use, alcohol use.
How the study worked
Researchers used data from the first two semesters of a longitudinal study involving 3,146 students from 11 colleges in North Carolina and Virginia. Random-effects logistic regression models identified predictors of lifetime marijuana use at college entry and initiation during freshman year.
What this study cannot tell us
The sample was from North Carolina and Virginia colleges and may not represent all college populations. Self-reported substance use may be inaccurate. The study did not measure frequency or quantity of marijuana use after initiation. The two-semester follow-up captures only the beginning of the college experience.
How to read the evidence
This is a multi-site longitudinal study with appropriate regression modeling, providing moderate evidence for the identified risk factors.
When this study was published
Published in 2014. College marijuana use patterns have continued to shift, particularly in states with recreational legalization.
The bigger picture
The transition to college is associated with increased substance use across the board. This study identifies specific risk factors that could be targeted by prevention programs, particularly the role of campus residential environments in facilitating first-time marijuana use.
Questions still open
- Would targeted prevention for students living on campus reduce freshman-year marijuana initiation? Does marijuana initiation in college lead to regular use or is it mostly experimental? How do campus policies around marijuana affect initiation rates?
Common questions
Why is living on campus a risk factor?
Does starting marijuana in college lead to long-term use?
Read the original research
Prevalence of marijuana use at college entry and risk factors for initiation during freshman year.
Addictive behaviors, 39(1), 302-7
Citation
Suerken, Cynthia K; Reboussin, Beth A; Sutfin, Erin L; Wagoner, Kimberly G; Spangler, John; Wolfson, Mark. (2014). Prevalence of marijuana use at college entry and risk factors for initiation during freshman year.. Addictive behaviors, 39(1), 302-7.
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