After the Mexican Revolution of 1910, recreational use of marijuana made its way to the United States.
Today, its usage is widespread, and marijuana is the most commonly used federally illegal drug in the United States — 48.2 million people reported consuming it at least once in 2019, representing 18% of Americans.
The study contains several different statistics that pinpoint college as the time when many students first try cannabis, underscored by the fact that similar levels of cannabis use have not been seen among 12th graders.
54% of students used alcohol pre-pandemic, a percentage that fell to 46.2% mid-pandemic, indicating a shift away from alcohol for students at UNC.
I’m not a scientist, nor do I have empirical evidence to nail down the exact answer to these questions.
As more states legalize the substance for both medicinal and recreational use, students living in these states will have increased opportunities to consume what’s still considered a Schedule-I drug at the federal level without jumping through legal obstacles.
The House passed the Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement Act at the beginning of April by a 220-204 vote, which would legalize cannabis nationwide and eliminate criminal penalties for anyone who manufactures, distributes or sells the substance if the Senate also passes the bill, which is unlikely.
Ohio State recently conducted a survey and found that over 70% of its students felt burnt out and overwhelmed in April 2021 and noted a direct link to an increase in unhealthy coping habits like consuming alcohol and vaping.
Opinions vary on whether cannabis helps or hinders academic success, but the anxiety felt from burnout plays a vital role in driving college students to cannabis at a historic rate.
Although social distancing and spending less time with friends due to COVID-19 contributed to the decrease in alcohol consumption on college campuses, these two factors may function as an explanation for the uptick in cannabis consumption.
Under normal circumstances, when alcohol and social gatherings were a regular occurrence for the standard college student, there was no need to appreciate the solitary nature of smoking cannabis for the majority of those on college campuses.
Accessibility to cannabis, rising levels of burnout and the onset of a global pandemic all undoubtedly contributed to the historic rise in cannabis’ popularity on college campuses in 2020, and it’s impossible to guess which factor had more of an impact than others.