Drug use, religion explain 'reverse gender gap' on marijuana
November 26, 2018
Science Daily/North Carolina State University
Women tend to be more conservative than men on political questions related to marijuana. A recent study finds that this gender gap appears to be driven by religion and the fact that men are more likely to have used marijuana.
"This subject got our attention because it is the rare political issue where women are more conservative than men," says Steven Greene, co-lead author of a paper on the study and professor of political science at North Carolina State University. "We wanted to better understand what was behind that 'reverse gender gap.'"
To explore the subject, Greene and co-lead author Laurel Elder -- a professor at Hartwick College -- evaluated a 2013 political survey by the Pew Research Center. The nationally representative survey had about 1,500 participants, evenly split between men and women. The survey also asked a range of questions about marijuana policy, as well as marijuana use.
The researchers evaluated responses to six survey questions about marijuana, such as "Should marijuana be legal?" and "Is marijuana a gateway drug?" They compiled these responses to create a "support for marijuana" scale, running from zero to 100. Men scored a 67 on the scale, while women scored a 61.
The researchers then delved into the survey data to identify what contributed to the gender gap.
"One hypothesis we saw in popular media was that women are less supportive of marijuana due to their role as mothers -- but the data didn't bear that out at all," Greene says. "In fact, mothers were no different from women without children in terms of either their support for marijuana policy or their reported use of marijuana."
Instead, Elder and Greene identified two other factors that accounted for the distinction: marijuana use and religiosity. Religiosity is measured by accounting for how often survey respondents said they attended church and whether they identified as born-again Christians.
"When we ran a statistical analysis that accounted for religiosity, the gender gap shrank, so it appears to play a role in attitudes toward marijuana," Greene says.
"But when we ran an analysis accounting for marijuana use, the gap disappeared altogether -- so that clearly plays a major role."
In the Pew survey, 57 percent of men reported having used marijuana, compared to 45 percent of women.
"One takeaway message from this work is that, as marijuana legalization and use become normalized, rather than being viewed as immoral or dangerous, the existing gender gap should shrink," Greene says.
The paper, "Gender and the Politics of Marijuana," is published in Social Science Quarterly.
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/11/181126134251.htm
Religious involvement deters recreational and medical marijuana use
June 19, 2018
Science Daily/Florida State University
Researchers have found that individuals who regularly attend church and report that religion is very important in their daily decision making are less likely to use marijuana recreationally and medically.
Although marijuana use for medical and recreational purposes is at an all-time high in the United States, a team of researchers led by a Florida State University professor has found those who hold strong religious beliefs are choosing to stay away from weed.
FSU Associate Professor Amy Burdette and her team found that individuals who regularly attend church and report that religion is very important in their daily decision making are less likely to use marijuana recreationally and medically. The study was recently published in the Journal of Drug Issues.
"Our study confirms previous studies of recreational marijuana use," Burdette said. "However, I believe ours is the first to examine the association between religiosity and medical marijuana use."
The study used data from 2016 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, a random sample of the U.S. adult population. Although many studies have focused on the association between religion and substance use in adolescence and young adulthood, few studies have focused on marijuana use in adulthood.
"We know various forms of substance use have increased among older adults as well, Burdette said. "So, we need to know what's going on among people in their 30s, 40s and 50s in terms of their substance use."
In the study, researchers examined three focal variables -- religious salience, religious service attendance and self-rated health.
Levels of religious attendance ranged from never attending services to attending more than once a week. Researchers found with every level of increased attendance the odds of being a recreational marijuana user reduced by 13 percent. The study found the likelihood of recreational marijuana use decreased by 20 percent as religious salience levels increased.
Researchers also examined the association between religious involvement and marijuana use of adults in poor health. They found that religious involvement was less effective in deterring marijuana use among sickly adults whether recreational or medically prescribed.
"You have two big institutions coming against each other when you're suffering and in poor health," Burdette said. "You might have your pastor highly stigmatizing its use, saying 'it's bad, it's a drug, you shouldn't do this.' While your doctor says, 'try this, it could help your pain and suffering.'"
With the impact of religion in society starting to decline, Burdette said perhaps more people are deferring to a medical authority.
Researchers said further study could include personality types and the religious affiliation of individuals. They also noted that the data is based on self-reports and people were potentially more likely to avoid reporting socially undesirable behaviors.
Co-authors include FSU doctoral candidate Noah Webb; and associate professors Jason A. Ford, University of Central Florida; Stacy Hoskins Haynes, Mississippi State University; and Terrence D. Hill, University of Arizona.
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/06/180619173550.htm