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Investigating Moderation In The Prospective Relationship Of Marijuana Use To Subsequent Illicit Substance Use: Evidence From Add Health, Radhika Prasad, Ming Wen, Zobayer Ahmmad, Daniel Adkins

Health Behavior Research

Whereas socially normalized substances (e.g., marijuana) may increase the probability of subsequent progression to more harmful illicit substances, previous empirical research on the topic has yielded inconsistent results. Few studies have prospectively examined whether age of first documented current marijuana use is related to later harmful illicit substance use over multiple life course stages, or considered potential moderation of the process by age of first documented current marijuana use, gender, or race/ethnicity. To investigate this topic, data from five waves of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult (N=20,774), spanning ages 12-42, were used to analyze the prospective association …