NCJ Number
127676
Journal
Journal of Adolescence Volume: 13 Issue: 4 Dated: (December 1990) Pages: 327-339
Date Published
1990
Length
13 pages
Annotation
Findings from a study of 1,311 Norwegian pupils aged 13 to 19 divided adolescent cannabis users into two distinct categories: experimental users who are characterized by political/subcultural opposition and heavy users who are characterized by poor mental health and family problems.
Abstract
Cannabis had been introduced into the country by a resourceful group of oppositional middle-class adolescents in the late 1960s. In the early 1970s lower class, troubled youth had started using the drug. Experimental users in the study used cannabis occasionally and were reminiscent of the oppositional middle class adolescents who had introduced the drug. The experimental users tended to start early, while the heavy users were found to be at risk of developing heavier, intravenous drug abuse habits. 6 tables and 16 references (Author abstract modified)