Discriminatory Harassment and Marijuana Use Among Adolescents in Oregon Counties that Vary in Retail Availability of Marijuana.

Abstract

Objectives: We investigated whether experiences of overall, race, appearance, and sexual minority discriminatory harassment were associated with adolescents' marijuana use and whether retail availability of legal recreational marijuana in Oregon counties moderated these associations.

Methods: Data for 6th, 8th, and 11th graders from the 2018 Student Wellness Survey in 33 Oregon counties were analyzed to assess marijuana use among students (N = 61,703) who did and did not experience discriminatory harassment and who lived in counties with different levels of marijuana retail availability (low, medium, high) measured as legal recreational outlets per roadway mile within each county.

Results: Multi-level logistic regression analyses indicated that students who reported experiencing overall, race, appearance, or sexual minority discriminatory harassment were more than twice as likely to report marijuana use. These associations were not moderated by retail availability. Additionally, students who lived in counties with greater retail marijuana availability were more likely to report marijuana use than students living in counties with less retail marijuana availability. Marijuana beliefs partially accounted for the associations between discriminatory harassment and marijuana use, and completely accounted for the association between retail outlet density and marijuana use.

Conclusions: This study provides a better understanding of the impact of discriminatory harassment and retail marijuana availability on marijuana use among adolescents. Prevention efforts should include school programs focused on addressing bullying and marijuana use as well as comprehensive community programs and policies to reduce adolescents' exposures to marijuana retail sales and marketing.