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.
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