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Abstract

Black men may use marijuana as an externalizing coping mechanism to handle the chronic stress of discrimination. The aim of the study was to examine the relationship between everyday and major discrimination and marijuana use among a national sample of Black men. Using the National Survey of American Life, logistic regression analyses was used to determine the association between recent marijuana use and everyday discrimination, major discrimination, and a fully adjusted model that include everyday and major discrimination among adult Black men (n = 1,833). Additionally, a multinomial logistic regression was used to examine the association between the frequency of marijuana usage and everyday discrimination and major discrimination among men who used marijuana in the past year. Everyday discrimination was not associated with marijuana use. In the fully adjusted model, men who experienced major discrimination had a higher odds of marijuana use (OR: 1.19, 95% CI [1.05, 1.34]), than those who did not control for everyday discrimination and covariates of interest. Among recent marijuana users, men who used almost every day had a decreased risks for major discrimination (RRR: 0.72, 95% CI [0.56, 0.92]), compared with men who used less than once a month. The findings suggest that recent marijuana use among Black men is associated with experiences of major discrimination. Interestingly, men who used almost every day had a decreased risk for major discrimination. Marijuana may be used as a coping mechanism.

Keywords

marijuana discrimination Black men men’s health

Introduction

Although marijuana has medicinal purposes, its most controversial use pertains to recreational smoking. Marijuana has consistently been cited as the most widely used illicit drug (Volkow, 2015). Data from the 2014 National Survey on Drug Use and Health revealed that about 16% of Blacks used marijuana within the past year (Center for Behavioral Health Statistics and Quality, 2015). Historically, Blacks had a delayed initiation to smoking marijuana, and smoked at lower rates compared with Whites. Recent research findings reveal that adolescent Black men initiate marijuana around the same time as their adolescent White men counterparts, but smoke it at higher rates (Center for Behavioral Health Statistics and Quality, 2015; Johnson et al., 2015). Given the substantial prevalence of marijuana use among Black men, it is important to identify if discrimination is a factor associated with its usage, as previous research has demonstrated a positive relationship between discrimination and substance use (Borrell et al., 2007; Borrell, Kiefe, Diez-Roux, Williams, & Gordon-Larsen, 2013; Clark, 2014; Gee, Delva, & Takeuchi, 2007; Hunte & Barry, 2012; Tran, Lee, & Burgess, 2010). There is a paucity of studies that have explored the association between discrimination and marijuana use.

Black men may use marijuana as an externalizing coping mechanism to handle the chronic stress of discrimination (Jackson & Knight, 2006; Paradies, 2006; Williams, 2003; Williams & Mohammed, 2009). Compared with Black women, Black men report higher levels of chronic and acute discrimination throughout the life course (Forman, Williams, & Jackson, 1997; Seaton, Caldwell, Sellers, & Jackson, 2008). Findings from Borrell et al. (2007) using data from the Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults Study demonstrated that discrimination was associated with increased marijuana usage among African Americans. Specifically, the results revealed that African Americans who reported racial discrimination (e.g., getting a job, at work) in three or more domains had a threefold increased odds for using marijuana 100 or more occurrences in their lifetime, compared with African Americans who did not experience discrimination (Borrell et al., 2007). However, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, no previous studies have explicitly examined the relationship between discrimination and marijuana usage among adult Black men.

The purpose of the study is to determine the association between discrimination and marijuana usage using a national sample of Black men. It is hypothesized that experiences of discrimination, compared with absence of discriminatory experience, would be associated with recent marijuana usage among Black men.

Method

Sample

Data for the study came from the National Survey of American Life (NSAL). The NSAL is a national household probability sample of African American (n = 3,570), Black Caribbean (n = 1,438), and non-Hispanic White (n = 891) adults aged ≥18 years. Using a multistage probability design, data collection was completed between February 2001 and March 2003 through face-to-face and telephone interviewing. The overall interview response rate was 72.3% (Jackson, Neighbors, Nesse, Trierweiler, & Torres, 2004). In this study, all non-Hispanic White (n = 891), African American women (n = 2,299), and Black Caribbean women (n = 877) were excluded. This results in an analytic sample size of 1,833 of which 1,271 are African American men and 562 are Black Caribbean men. Additional information on the sampling design and procedures of NSAL reported elsewhere (Heeringa et al., 2004).

Study Measures

Marijuana Usage

The outcomes were recent marijuana usage and frequency of marijuana usage. Study participants were asked, “Have you used marijuana in the past 12 months” (“yes,” “no”). Men who responded “yes” were coded as “recent marijuana users.” Men who responded “no” were coded as “nonrecent marijuana users.” Participants who answered affirmatively to smoking marijuana in the past 12 months were asked additional questions about the frequency of their marijuana usage. Response options were less than once a month, 1 to 3 days a month, 1 to 2 days a week, 3 to 4 days a week, and almost every day. A five level categorical variable was created to reflect the frequency of marijuana use.

Discrimination

Both everyday and major experiences of discrimination were used in the analysis (Williams, Yan, Jackson, & Anderson, 1997). Everyday discrimination was assessed using a 10-item version of the Williams et al. (1997) Everyday Discrimination Scale. Specifically, respondents were asked about the lifetime occurrence and frequency of (a) being treated with less courtesy than others, (b) being treated with less respect than others, (c) receiving poorer services than others, (d) being treated as if they are not smart by others, (e) others being afraid of them, (f) being perceived as dishonest by others, (g) people acting like they were better than them, (h) being called names or insulted by others, (i) feeling threatened or harassed, or (j) being followed in stores more than others. The response options ranged from 1 = almost every day to 5 = never. After reverse coding the response options, a scale was created by summing across the 10 items. The scale ranged from 0 to 50, with higher scores representing more experiences with everyday discrimination.

Major discrimination was assessed using Williams et al.’s (1997) 9-item Major Experiences of Discrimination Scale. Study respondents were asked if they were ever unfairly (a) fired, (b) not hired, (c) denied promotion, (d) treated/abused by police, (e) discouraged from continuing education, (f) prevented from moving into a neighborhood, (g) neighbors made life difficult, (h) denied loan, or (i) received poor service from repairman. The response options were yes or no. Affirmative responses were summed across the 9 items, to create a scale that ranged from 0 to 9. Higher scores on the scales represent more experiences with major discrimination.

Covariates

Based on previous studies (Borrell et al., 2007; Dohrenwend, 1973; Gee et al., 2007; Hunte & Barry, 2012; Landrine & Klonoff, 1996; Parker, Kinlock, Chisolm, Furr-Holden, & Thorpe, in press; Sinha, 2001), an a priori decision was made to control for characteristics that could conflate the relationship between discrimination and marijuana use. Specifically, major stress, depressive symptomology, and several demographic variables were controlled for in the analysis. Major stress was assessed using a count variable. Specifically the respondents were asked in the past month if they had problems with: (a) health, (b) money, (c) job, (d) children, (e) marriage, (f) being a crime victim, (g) the police, (h) love life, and (i) their race. The response items were yes or no. Affirmative responses were summed across the 9 items, to create a scale that ranged from 0 to 9. Higher scores represent more experiences with major stressors in the past month. Depressive symptomology was assessed using a continuous variable based on the Center for Epidemiologic Studies–Depression 12-item scale. The demographic variables included age (in years), marital status (1 = married; 0 = not married), household income (1 = <$30,000; 0 = >$30,000), education (1 = high school graduate or more; 0 = less than high school graduate, employment status (1 = employed; 0 = not employed), fair/poor self-rated health (yes = 1; no = 0), and foreign born (1 = yes; 0 = no).

Data Analysis

Sample characteristics were summarized for the entire sample. Additionally, these characteristics were summarized and compared using chi-square statistics and the student’s t test by recent marijuana use. In Table 2, several multivariate logistic regression models were used to determine the association between marijuana use in the past 12 months and everyday discrimination (Model 1), major discrimination (Model 2), and both everyday and major discrimination (Model 3), controlling for major stress, depressive symptomology, age, being married, household income, education, being employed, fair/poor self-rated health, and being foreign born in each model. In Table 3, a multinomial logistic regression model was used to determine the association between frequency of marijuana usage and everyday and major discrimination, controlling for major stress, depressive symptomology, age, being married, household income, education, being employed, fair/poor self-rated health, and being foreign born in each model. Before estimating the multivariate logistic regression models, multicollinearity among major discrimination, everyday discrimination, and major stress was tested using the variance inflation factor. The variance inflation factor was below 10, thus multicollinearity was not an issue (UCLA Statistical Consulting Group, 2016). All of the analyses incorporated weights and design factors to account for the complex multistage probability sampling design of NSAL. p Values less than .05 were considered significant and all tests were two-sided. All of the analyses for the study were performed using the complex survey design feature in STATA version 13 (StataCorp LP, College Station, TX).

Results

The distribution of the select characteristics of Black men for the full sample and by marijuana usage in the past 12 months is displayed in Table 1. Of the 1,833 men, 28.6% reported marijuana use in the past 12 months. Among those, the recent marijuana users, 31.6% of the men used marijuana less than once a month and 22% of the men used marijuana almost every day. The mean score of everyday and major discrimination were 15.4 ± 0.4 and 2.1 ± 0.1, respectively. The mean score for major stress was 1.7 ± 0.1, and the mean score for depressive symptoms was 14.4 ± 0.2. The average age of the men was 39 years, half of the sample was married, 57.1% of the men reported income less than $30,000 per year, and over three quarters of the sample had a high school education or more and was employed. Seventeen percent of the men reported fair/poor health and 3.9% were foreign born. The relationship between these variables was examined by marijuana use status. A larger proportion of men who reported marijuana use in the past 12 months reported either an everyday or major discrimination experience (p = .001), reported major stress (p = .000), were younger (p = .000), and reported having less than a high school diploma (p = .002) relative to men who did not use marijuana in the past 12 months. A smaller proportion of men who reported marijuana use in the past 12 months were married (p = .000), and had a household income greater than $30,000 (p = .002) relative to men who did not report marijuana use. No differences were observed between men who reported marijuana use in the past 12 months, and those who did not reported marijuana use in the past 12 months with regard to depressive symptoms (p = .08), being employed (p = .27), self-rated health (p = .57), and being foreign born (p = .89).

Table 1.

Distribution of Weighted Select Characteristics of Black Men in the National Survey of American Life (n = 1,833) for the Full Sample and by Marijuana Usage in Past 12 Months.

Characteristics	Full sample	Marijuana use in past 12 months
Characteristics	Full sample	Yes	No
Marijuana use in past 12 months (%)		28.6	71.4
Frequency of marijuana use (%)^a
Less than once a month		31.6
1-3 Days a month		18.8
1-2 Days a week		13.6
3-4 Days a week		13.5
Almost every day		22.2
Everyday discrimination, mean (SE)^b	15.4 (0.4)	17.5 (1.3)	14.2 (0.6)*
Major discrimination, mean (SE)^c	2.1 (0.1)	2.5 (0.2)	1.9 (0.1)*
Major stress, mean (SE)^d	1.7 (0.1)	2.3 (0.1)	1.5 (0.6)*
CES-D, mean (SE)^e	14.4 (0.2)	15.0 (0.5)	14.0 (0.4)
Age, mean (SE)	38.5 (0.5)	32.8 (0.9)	40.8 (0.6)*
Married (%)	50.1	32.5	53.3*
Household income (%)
>$30,000	42.9	50.6	35.6*
<$30,000	57.1	49.4	64.3
Education (%)
<High school graduate	23.1	25.0	18.6*
High school graduate or more	76.9	75.0	81.4
Employed	71.9	73.6	77.8
Fair/poor self-rated health (%)	16.8	15.5	17.3
Foreign born (%)	3.9	4.2	3.8

Note. SE = standard error. ^aFrequency of marijuana use in the past 12 months. ^bEveryday discrimination measured using the 10-item Williams’s Everyday Discrimination Scale. ^cMajor discrimination measured using the 9-item Williams’s Major Discrimination Scale. ^dMajor stress measured as a 9-item count of major chronic stressors. ^eCES-D is Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale. All estimates account for the multistage probability sampling design by applying the appropriate weights and strata variables.

p < .05.

The results from the logistic regression depicting the association between marijuana use in the past 12 months and discrimination among Black men was reported in Table 2. All of the models adjusted for major stress, depressive symptoms, age, being married, household income, education, employed, fair/poor health, and foreign born. In Model 1, everyday discrimination was not associated with recent marijuana use. In Model 2, men who experienced major discrimination (odds ratio [OR]: 1.20, 95% confidence interval [CI: 1.09, 1.32]) had increased odds of recent marijuana usage compared with men who did not experience major discrimination. In the fully adjusted model, after modeling both everyday and major discrimination together, major discrimination (OR: 1.19, 95% CI [1.05, 1.34]) was associated with increased odds of marijuana use in the past 12 months.

Table 2.

Weighted Logistic Regression Depicting the Association Between Discrimination and Marijuana Use in Past 12 Months Among 1,833 Black Men in the National Survey of American Life.

	Model 1		Model 2		Model 3
	OR	CI	OR	CI	OR	CI
Everyday discrimination^a	1.01	[0.97, 1.04]			1.00	[0.97, 1.03]
Major discrimination^b			1.20	[1.09, 1.32]	1.19	[1.05, 1.34]
Any major stress^c	1.29	[1.09, 1.52]	1.24	[1.06, 1.44]	1.24	[1.06, 1.45]
CES-D^d	1.01	[0.96, 1.06]	1.01	[0.96, 1.07]	1.01	[0.97, 1.07]
Age	0.95	[0.93, 0.97]	0.94	[0.93, 0.96]	0.94	[0.93, 0.96]
Married	0.66	[0.41, 1.06]	0.62	[0.38, 1.03]	0.63	[0.38, 1.05]
Household income
>$30,000	1.00		1.00		1.00
<$30,000	1.37	[0.88, 2.14]	1.40	[0.90, 2.17]	1.40	[0.90, 2.17]
Education
<High school graduate	1.00		1.00		1.00
≥High school graduate	0.76	[0.48, 1.23]	0.73	[0.45, 1.18]	0.73	[0.45, 1.19]
Employed	1.02	[0.58, 1.80]	1.04	[0.59, 1.82]	1.03	[0.58, 1.82]
Fair/poor self-rated health	0.65	[0.43, 1.01]	0.67	[0.43, 1.05]	0.67	[0.42, 1.05]
Foreign born	1.40	[0.25, 3.71]	1.51	[0.51, 4.45]	1.50	[0.50, 4.47]

Note. OR = odds ratio; CI = confidence interval. ^aEveryday discrimination measured using the 10-item Williams’s Everyday Discrimination Scale. ^bMajor discrimination measured using the 9-item Williams’s Major Discrimination Scale. ^cMajor stress measured as a 9-item count of major chronic stressors. ^dCES-D is Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale. All estimates account for the multistage probability sampling design by applying the appropriate weights and strata variables.

The results from the multinomial logistic regression depicting the association between the frequency of marijuana use in the past 12 months and discrimination among Black men were presented in Table 3. The model adjusted for major stress, depressive symptoms, age, being married, household income, education, employed, fair/poor health, and foreign born. Men who used marijuana almost every day in the past 12 months had a decreased risk of experiencing major discrimination (relative risk ratio: 0.72, 95% CI [0.56, 0.92]), compared with those who used marijuana less than once a month in the past 12 months. None of the other frequencies for marijuana usage were significant.

Table 3.

Weighted Multinomial Logistic Regression Depicting the Association Between Discrimination and Frequency of Marijuana Usage in Past 12 Months Among 261 Black Men in the National Survey of American Life.

	1-3 Days a month^a	1-2 Days a week	3-4 Days a week	Almost every day
	RRR [CI]	RRR [CI]	RRR [CI]	RRR [CI]
Everyday discrimination^b	1.01 [0.95, 1.08]	1.01 [0.93, 1.10]	0.99 [0.92, 1.05]	1.02 [0.96, 1.08]
Major discrimination^c	0.91 [0.66, 1.26]	0.83 [0.64, 1.08]	1.06 [0.79, 1.41]	0.72 [0.56, 0.92]
Any major stress^d	1.15 [0.85, 1.57]	1.23 [0.80, 1.90]	1.05 [0.70, 1.57]	1.78 [1.33, 2.40]
CES-D^e	0.94 [0.84, 1.05]	1.00 [0.88, 1.13]	1.01 [0.86, 1.17]	1.02 [0.88, 1.17]
Age (years)	1.02 [0.98, 1.06]	1.00 [0.88, 1.13]	1.00 [0.95, 1.05]	0.96 [0.91, 1.01]
Married	0.55 [0.20, 1.54]	0.59 [0.20, 1.77]	0.85 [0.30, 2.43]	1.03 [0.34, 3.13]
Household income
>$30,000	1.00	1.00	1.00	1.00
<$30,000	0.60 [0.17, 2.13]	0.90 [0.28, 2.88]	1.92 [0.54, 6.86]	1.00 [0.31, 3.25]
Education
<High school graduate	1.00	1.00	1.00	1.00
≥High school graduate	0.66 [0.17, 2.51]	0.62 [0.21, 1.84]	0.73 [0.17, 3.15]	0.27 [0.09, 0.81]
Employed	0.51 [0.17, 1.51]	1.68 [0.52, 5.46]	0.52 [0.15, 1.79]	0.87 [0.28, 2.72]
Fair/poor self-rated health	0.27 [0.05, 1.34]	0.74 [0.13, 4.30]	0.90 [0.19, 4.30]	0.55 [0.15, 1.95]
Foreign born	0.98 [0.15, 6.54]	4.34 [0.58, 32.42]	6.98 [0.65, 75.07]	0.66 [0.05, 8.55]

Note. RRR = relative risk ratio; CI = confidence interval. ^aReference category for all analysis are those who smoke less than once a month. ^bEveryday discrimination measured using the 10-item Williams’s Everyday Discrimination Scale. ^cMajor discrimination measured using the 9-item Williams’s Major Discrimination Scale. ^dMajor stress measured as a 9-item count of major chronic stressors. ^eCES-D is Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale. All estimates account for the multistage probability sampling design by applying the appropriate weights and strata variables.

Discussion

The study examined the association between recent marijuana use and discrimination among adult Black men, using data from the NSAL. Findings indicate that Black men who experienced any major discrimination had an increased odds of using marijuana in the past 12 months, net of everyday discrimination, major stress, age, marital status, household income, employment status, self-rated health, and nativity. There was no association between everyday discrimination and marijuana use. Additionally, controlling for everyday discrimination and the covariates of interest, Black men who used marijuana almost every day in the past 12 months had a decreased risk for experiencing major discrimination, compared with men who used marijuana less than once a month. Findings suggest that experiences with major discrimination are most salient to Black men’s use of marijuana.

As expected, any major discrimination was associated with an increased odds of recent marijuana usage among Black men. This finding is consistent with previous findings, but extends to Black men, that have demonstrated a relationship between discrimination and marijuana use (Borrell et al., 2007; Borrell et al., 2013; Clark, 2014; Gee et al., 2007; Hunte & Barry, 2012). The disengagement with social institutions, that is, labor market and housing market, due to unfair treatment as measured in the Major Discrimination Scale might result in Black men using marijuana to cope with disenfranchisement. The inability to fully engage with social institutions might create dissonance within Black men, as traditional gender norms expect men to be economic providers; however, discrimination creates unique obstacles for Black men to fulfill this role (Griffith, 2015; Williams, 2015). Despite being barred from institutions that have a positive effect on status attainment, Black males are often plagued with a disproportionate level of involuntary contact with the criminal justice system (Brunson & Miller, 2006). As a means to compensate or escape from disenfranchisement and racial gender biases, marijuana usage may be an emotion-focused coping strategy used to alleviate the negative emotions resulting from discrimination (Unger, 2015). While such usage might seem useful in the short term, in the long term such usage might further bar Black men from employment opportunities and increase contact with the criminal justice system as well as create other adverse physical and psychological effects (Unger, 2015).

Interestingly, findings from the multinomial logistic regression revealed the Black men who used marijuana almost every day have a 28% lower risk for experiencing major discrimination compared with Black men who used less than once a month. To the author’s knowledge, no previous studies have examined the association between the frequency of recent substance use and discrimination. However, it is worth noting that Black men who experienced higher encounters of major discrimination and Black men who had a high school education and beyond were associated with a lower risk of everyday marijuana use. One potential explanation might be that these men are engaging in are engaging in practices to overcome limited opportunities in society resulting from unfair treatment (Williams, 2003). With regard to experiences of major stress, Black men who reported higher experiences of lifetime major stress had a higher risk of everyday marijuana use. It is possible that these men may have used marijuana to cope with structural inequalities that they face in society (Brown, Hargrove, & Griffith, 2015; Williams, 2003; Xanthos, Treadwell, & Holden, 2010). Future studies should further examine this association.

In this study, everyday discrimination was not associated with recent marijuana usage among Black men. This was an unexpected finding. Previous studies have demonstrated the association between everyday discrimination and substance use (Borrell et al., 2007; Clark, 2014; Gee et al., 2007; Hunte & Barry, 2012). Hunte and Barry (2012), similar to the current study, modeled everyday and major discrimination together and demonstrated that both discrimination measures were positively associated with Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders–Fourth edition illicit drug use disorder among African American and Black Caribbean adults. Furthermore, findings from Gee et al. (2007) demonstrated that everyday unfair treatment was associated with an increased odds for marijuana use among Filipino Americans. Based on the findings from the current study, it appears that Black men’s experiences with everyday discrimination may affect their use of marijuana in unique ways.

Due to the high frequency of experiences with everyday discrimination that Black men endure (Forman et al., 1997; Seaton et al., 2008), they may be accustomed to unfair treatment in their daily lives. Their experiences with everyday discrimination in their interpersonal relationships may not affect them as much as experiencing discrimination in social structures. Although it has been reported that everyday discrimination is more burdensome than major discrimination (Kessler, Mickelson, & Williams, 1999), it does not appear to be a factor associated with marijuana use. This may be due to the shared risk factors that predispose Black men to both marijuana use and everyday discrimination. These shared risk factors include social inequalities in income, housing, education, and racial profiling. More research is needed to understand the joint effect of everyday and major discrimination on substance use among Black men.

Despite the contributions of the study to the literature on the relationship between discrimination and marijuana use, there are limitations. Due to the cross-sectional nature of the study, temporal ordering of the relationship between marijuana use and discrimination cannot be established. Longitudinal studies are needed to further examine this relationship. Future studies should consider examining the role of marijuana use as a coping response for discrimination. In spite of these limitations, to the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to examine the relationship between discrimination and marijuana usage in a national sample of Black men. The large sample size afforded the opportunity to understand this relationship. Results from the study identified major discrimination as a key psychosocial factor associated with recent marijuana usage among Black men.

Findings from this study adds to the growing literature that suggests that discrimination is associated with marijuana use among Black men. Furthermore, findings suggest that men who use marijuana almost every day have a decrease risk for major discrimination. Future studies should examine how gender-specific factors like masculinity and gendered social norms influence Black men’s marijuana usage to mitigate stress at different stages over the life course. Developing interventions which focus on managing discrimination and other stressors among Black men may reduce marijuana usage.

Footnotes

Authors’ Note

The last author is a visiting scholar in the Center for Biobehavioral Health Disparities Research in the Social Science Research Institute at Duke University.

Declaration of Conflicting Interests

The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Funding

The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: The first author was funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse, Drug Epidemiology training grant T32DA007292-23. Research conducted by the third and last author was supported by a grant from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (1R25HL126145). The last author was also supported by the National Center for Minority Health and Health Disparities (P60MD000214), and the Johns Hopkins 2015 Catalyst Award.

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The Association Between Marijuana Usage and Discrimination Among Adult Black Men

Abstract

Keywords

Introduction

Method

Sample

Study Measures

Marijuana Usage

Discrimination

Covariates

Data Analysis

Results

Discussion

Footnotes

Authors’ Note

Declaration of Conflicting Interests

Funding

References