Men More Likely to Use Marijuana Than Women, Study Finds

Males Extra More likely to Use Marijuana Than Girls, Examine Finds

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MONDAY, Dec. 5, 2016 (HealthDay Information) -- As extra American adults select to puff on the marijuana pipe, a gender distinction is turning into clear -- males are considerably extra prone to smoke pot than ladies, a brand new examine finds.

In contrast with 2002, an extra 6 million males reported past-year pot smoking in 2014. For girls, that quantity was four million, the researchers mentioned.

Use remained at about 13 p.c for males and seven p.c for girls for various years. However after 2007, use rose about four p.c amongst males and three p.c amongst ladies, based on examine authors Hannah Carliner and Deborah Hasin. They're epidemiologists on the Columbia College Mailman Faculty of Public Well being in New York Metropolis.

"These modifications parallel nationwide tendencies in decreased perceived harmfulness of marijuana use, and legalization of each leisure and medical use in over half of U.S. states," Carliner mentioned in a college information launch.

"Nevertheless, modifications in attitudes and legality don't sufficiently clarify why we observe a pointy improve in use in 2007, or why this improve was larger in males than in ladies," she added.

Additional investigation revealed that the widening gender hole was pushed by folks with low incomes. Between 2007 and 2014, marijuana use elevated about 6 p.c amongst males in households incomes lower than $20,000 yearly, in comparison with solely 2 p.c of ladies in that group.

These will increase corresponded to the beginning of the Nice Recession and rising unemployment charges in 2007, based on the report.

The stress of economic struggles might assist clarify elevated marijuana use amongst males with low incomes, the examine authors advised.

"Whereas an financial restoration started round 2012, it largely bypassed males within the low-income manufacturing and development fields, the place incomes and employment charges remained low," Carliner mentioned.

In line with Hasin, the findings "are according to different current nationwide research documenting growing charges of illness and demise associated to substance use amongst middle-aged low socioeconomic standing white Individuals."

Carliner added that figuring out high-risk intervals and teams of individuals would possibly assist goal prevention efforts sooner or later.

The report was revealed on-line lately within the journal Drug and Alcohol Dependence.

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SOURCE: Columbia College, information launch, Nov. 29, 2016