Study shows marihuana use not a threat

[James407]

Augustana sociology professor Geraint B. Osborne is of the opinion that people who use marihuana are no more a criminal threat to society than are alcohol and cigarette users.

"Some people argue that drug use leads to crime, and that somehow those who use drugs are in such an altered state they don't know what they are doing and have to go out and hurt someone or get involved in acts of vandalism," said Osborne, whose study, Understanding the Motivations for Recreational Marihuana Use Among Adult Canadians, was published in the spring edition of the journal Substance Use and Misuse. "What I found in the research, with the people we talked to, was that doesn't happen. It doesn't make you want to go out and do those types of things."

The study surveyed 41 employed Canadians ranging in age from 21 to 61, including 25 men and 16 women, whose use of the drug ranged from daily to once or twice a year. They were predominantly middle class and worked in the retail and service industries, in communications, as white-collar employees, or as health-care and social workers. Sixty-eight per cent of the users held post-secondary degrees, while another 11 survey participants had earned their high school diploma.

Osborne was assisted with the study by former Augustana student Curtis Fogel, who went on to do his MA work at Memorial University in Newfoundland, and is currently completing a PhD at the University of Calgary.

"The reason for doing it was largely influenced by my reading of the report on the Senate special committee on illegal drugs, which had looked into the decriminalization and legislation of cannabis back in 2001 and 2002," said Osborne. "A lot of their research focused on people who abused the drug: people from socially marginalized backgrounds who used the drug in almost an addictive manner. Not a lot of ethnographic or qualitative research had been done on recreational marihuana use, or how the rest of the population might be using it."

In conducting the interviews, Osborne found that most adult marihuana users regulate use to their recreational time and do not use compulsively. Rather, as he stated in the study, their use is purposively intended to enhance their leisure activities and manage the challenges and demands of living in contemporary modern society.

"Generally, participants reported using marihuana because it enhanced relaxation and concentration, making a broad range of leisure activities more enjoyable and pleasurable. That most participants made rational decisions to enhance recreation through moderate use, and reported no dependency or addictive problems, is probably related to their middle class status: they are well educated, gainfully employed, can afford to be engaged in a host of hobbies and interest, and as one participant put it, 'have more important things to do than just sit around stone all day.' In other words, there was nothing in their immediate social environment to suggest that they were using marihuana as a way of escaping or retreating from any significant social or psychological ills."

The majority of users also indicated they employed certain rules that many of us employ when it comes to the use of alcohol. Most said they wouldn't drive while intoxicated from alcohol or marihuana, that they wouldn't use it around children, and that they would only use it in the privacy of their own home.

"Some said they would use it in public but only in a concert situation, where others were using it as well," said Osborne.

On average, the yearly amount spent on marihuana by those surveyed was $300.

In terms of the amount used, some people said they preferred to have a few puffs of a joint, while others said they would like one joint a night. A few said they would wait for a long weekend, when they would have one to three joints.

Osborne respectfully disagrees with the police argument that marihuana contributes to crime.

"I would argue that it is the prohibition of marihuana that actually leads to crime," he said. "Not that there aren't any cases where someone is inebriated and in such a state that they aren't thinking clearly and do things that normally they wouldn't do, but that is the same with alcohol. If you look at it, the drug that is most highly correlated with crime, particularly violent crime, is alcohol. And no one is calling for that to be criminalized."

Osborne feels that eventually, we are going to see the decriminalization and legalization of marihuana, with the government making money off it through taxes.

"Although these findings are not generalizable given the small sample size, if they are corroborated by further ethnographic research there may be a compelling reason to reconsider present laws that prohibit marihuana use and treat recreational marihuana users as criminals. These recreational marihuana users do not consider their marihuana use as a compulsive behaviour resulting from some form of pathology such as boredom, alienation or depression, as is often asserted by those who support the current drug laws. They are no more escaping reality through their use of marihuana than those people who are engrossed by novels, enthralled by television and movies, mesmerized by religious prayer and devotion, captivated by playing online role-playing games, thrilled by roller-coasters and theme-park rides, or engaged in any other mind- and mood-altering behaviour."

From a health standpoint, Osborne feels regulation is a way to go because it would result in a controlled product, with everyone knowing exactly what is in it.

"There would be no danger of foreign substances being put into the drug," he said.

Osborne sees the need for a more responsible response to the drug problem, considering the war on drugs in Canada is now officially 100 years old.

"The war on drugs has not been successful," he said. "If anything, it has made things worse. A lot of people in the field argue that we need to take a harm reduction approach and place more emphasis on education. That means updating the DARE programs that we have and giving people the right information. It has worked when it has come to nicotine and cigarettes. Those levels are dropping because of the education and awareness we have out there."
By Dan Jensen