The Meaning of Chronic Marijuana Use among Adults: A Psychosocial Perspective

Abstract

Research on marijuana smoking among adults has raised questions about whether such behavior is essentially maladaptive. Drawing from their study of the role of marijuana in the psychosocial adaptation of long-term, heavy adult users, the authors explore the meaning this behavior appears to have for such individuals. On the basis of questionnaire results obtained from 150 chronic marijuana-smoking adults, use of the drug was not found to be linked with maladaptive functioning in any consistent behavioral sense. Intensive interviews with a smaller number of subjects revealed a quite different picture, however, pointing to a relationship between heavy marijuana use and significant adaptive difficulties in the areas of work and personal relationships. While suggesting the need to use psychodynamic, as well as social variables, in defining marijuana abuse, the authors caution against concluding a causal linkage between the drug behavior and users' difficulties in psychosocial functioning.