Correlation between marijuana use and later life deviance.

This study was conducted in 2011 by Maureen Reynolds, Ralph Tarter, Levent Kirisci and Duncan Clark to determine the link between marijuana or alcohol use and later deviant acts and substance use disorder later in life. The study was conducted looking at a group of 266 males and 93 females. They were selected due to psychological disorder or substance use by their fathers. The subjects were selected at an age between 10 and 12 and were followed until they were 22. They were followed up at the ages of 12, 14, 16, 19 and 22. This study showed that males were more susceptible to transmissible substance abuse than females. It also showed that the increasing frequency of marijuana consumption is directly correlated with later violent offences. The study came to prove no such finding however for alcohol use.

Reynolds, M. D., Tarter, R. E., Kirisci, L., & Clark, D. B. (2011). Marijuana but not alcohol use during adolescence mediates the association between transmissible risk for substance use disorder and number of lifetime violent offenses. Journal Of Criminal Justice, 39(3), 218-223. doi:10.1016/j.jcrimjus.2011.02.002