The National Commission on Marihuana and Drug Abuse

Marihuana - A Signal of Misunderstanding.

Chapter II

marihuana use and its effects

Parental Influence

The decision to use marihuana is related to parental life style.

Parents provide the most important example of acceptable drug-taking behavior for their children. That marihuana users frequently have medicine-taking, cigarette-smoking, or liquor-drinking parents has been demonstrated. In a series of Canadian studies, grade and high school students who said their mothers took tranquilizers daily were three times more likely to try marihuana than the students who did not so report.

Beyond the influence of a drug-taking example, parents have the primary influence on their childrens' acquisition of skills, values and attitudes necessary to be mature and responsible adults. Many parents have oriented their children toward becoming independent, competent, educated, and adaptive adults.

Simultaneously, many young people observe in their parents' lives the trend toward shorter work periods, earlier retirement and increased emphasis on leisure time activities. It appears that the incidence of adolescent marihuana use is strongly correlated with this trend toward increased leisure time.