Salas-Wright Christopher P, Vaughn Michael G, Cummings-Vaughn Lenise A, Holzer Katherine J, Nelson Erik J, AbiNader Millan, Oh Sehun
School of Social Work, Boston University, Boston, MA, United States.
School of Social Work, College for Public Health and Social Justice, Saint Louis University, St. Louis, MO, United States.
Drug Alcohol Depend. 2017 Feb 1;171:97-106. doi: 10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2016.11.031. Epub 2016 Dec 14.
Recent trend studies suggest that marijuana use is on the rise among the general population of adults ages 18 and older in the United States. However, little is known about the trends in marijuana use and marijuana-specific risk/protective factors among American adults during the latter part of adulthood.
Findings are based on repeated, cross-sectional data collected from late middle-aged (ages 50-64) and older adults (ages 65 and older) surveyed as part of the National Survey on Drug Use and Health between 2002 and 2014.
The prevalence of past-year marijuana use among late middle-aged adults increased significantly from a low of 2.95% in 2003 to a high of 9.08% in 2014. Similarly, the prevalence of marijuana use increased significantly among older adults from a low of 0.15% in 2003 to a high of 2.04% in 2014. Notably, the upward trends in marijuana use remained significant even when accounting for sociodemographic, substance use, behavioral, and health-related factors. We also found that decreases in marijuana-specific protective factors were associated with the observed trend changes in marijuana use among late middle-aged and older adults, and observed a weakening of the association between late-middle aged marijuana use and risk propensity, other illicit drug use, and criminal justice system involvement over the course of the study.
Findings from the present study provide robust evidence indicating that marijuana use among older Americans has increased markedly in recent years, with the most evident changes observed between 2008 and 2014.
近期的趋势研究表明，在美国18岁及以上的成年人群体中，大麻使用呈上升趋势。然而，对于成年后期美国成年人的大麻使用趋势以及大麻特定的风险/保护因素，人们了解甚少。
研究结果基于2002年至2014年期间作为全国药物使用和健康调查一部分对中年后期（50 - 64岁）和老年人（65岁及以上）进行调查所收集的重复横断面数据。
中年后期成年人过去一年大麻使用的患病率从2003年的2.95%的低点显著增加到2014年的9.08%的高点。同样，老年人中大麻使用的患病率从2003年的0.15%的低点显著增加到2014年的2.04%的高点。值得注意的是，即使考虑到社会人口统计学、物质使用、行为和健康相关因素，大麻使用的上升趋势仍然显著。我们还发现，大麻特定保护因素的减少与中年后期和老年人中观察到的大麻使用趋势变化相关，并且在研究过程中观察到中年后期大麻使用与风险倾向、其他非法药物使用以及刑事司法系统参与之间的关联减弱。
本研究结果提供了有力证据，表明近年来美国老年人中的大麻使用显著增加，最明显的变化发生在2008年至2014年之间。
