Examining college students' use, perception, and knowledge of marijuana and marijuana laws

Simple item page
dc.contributorPaschal, Angelia M.
dc.contributorGordon, Brian
dc.contributorLeeper, James D.
dc.contributor.advisorBirch, David A.
dc.contributor.advisorUsdan, Stuart L.
dc.contributor.authorBurroughs, Meghan Elizabeth
dc.contributor.otherUniversity of Alabama Tuscaloosa
dc.date.accessioned2020-01-16T15:03:51Z
dc.date.available2020-01-16T15:03:51Z
dc.date.issued2019
dc.descriptionElectronic Thesis or Dissertationen_US
dc.description.abstractMarijuana is a highly utilized drug on college campuses that has a variety of adverse health effects. Since the 1970s, state marijuana laws have been consistently evolving throughout the United States, increasing accessibility and normalizing marijuana use, especially among college students. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine the association that state marijuana laws have had on undergraduate students at one university in a southeastern state that only has a limited medical marijuana law, specifically in terms of use, perceptions of risk, diversion of marijuana, and marijuana law knowledge. The Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) was the theoretical framework for this study. A quantitative, cross-sectional design was utilized through the administration of paper and pen surveys from a convenience sample of 391 undergraduate students. No significant relationships were found between the type of marijuana law from students’ state of permanent residence and college student marijuana use, perceptions of risk, or diversion of marijuana. Additionally, no significant relationships were found between marijuana law knowledge and student marijuana use in the state of Alabama during the past 12 months or 30 days. Individually, all TPB constructs were significant in predicting behavioral intention to use marijuana in the state of Alabama in the next 12 months. However, only subjective norms (β = .189, p < .05) and attitudes (β = .406, p < .001) were significant in predicting behavioral intention to use marijuana in the state of Alabama in the next 30 days. When examining all constructs together, only attitude was a significant predictor of intention to use marijuana in the next 12 months (β = .484, p < .001) and in the next 30 days (β = .392, p < .001) in the state of Alabama. Although the results of this study did not find much significance between the variables, students did report high levels of marijuana use, low perceptions of risk, and endorsed several diversion behaviors within a state with a limited medical marijuana law. Public health education researchers and practitioners should continue to explore the influence of marijuana laws and marijuana use in college students.en_US
dc.format.extent169 p.
dc.format.mediumelectronic
dc.format.mimetypeapplication/pdf
dc.identifier.otheru0015_0000001_0003433
dc.identifier.otherBurroughs_alatus_0004D_13947
dc.identifier.urihttp://ir.ua.edu/handle/123456789/6490
dc.languageEnglish
dc.language.isoen_US
dc.publisherUniversity of Alabama Libraries
dc.relation.hasversionborn digital
dc.relation.ispartofThe University of Alabama Electronic Theses and Dissertations
dc.relation.ispartofThe University of Alabama Libraries Digital Collections
dc.rightsAll rights reserved by the author unless otherwise indicated.en_US
dc.subjectHealth education
dc.titleExamining college students' use, perception, and knowledge of marijuana and marijuana lawsen_US
dc.typethesis
dc.typetext
etdms.degree.departmentUniversity of Alabama. Department of Health Science
etdms.degree.disciplineHealth Education/Promotion
etdms.degree.grantorThe University of Alabama
etdms.degree.leveldoctoral
etdms.degree.namePh.D.

Files

Original bundle
Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
Thumbnail Image
Name:
file_1.pdf
Size:
1.7 MB
Format:
Adobe Portable Document Format
Download

Collections

Theses and Dissertations
Theses and Dissertations - Department of Health Science