Street Gangs and Marijuana Uses

According to MacKenzie, Hunt and Joe-Laidler (2006): ‘’Researchers and policy makers alike have defined adolescent drug use as a critical social problem. Besides its illegal nature, the reason for its importance is in part related to the belief that drug use may act as a gate-way or causal factor for future and more serious delinquency behavior.’’(p.100).To understand the consummation of the street youth we must understand that smoking cannabis is a way to get accept in a group and this is mostly a lifestyle. This is a kind of requirement to be accepted, respect and have a good status in the gang. Also, one of the main drug sell by the street youth is cannabis, so living in a world of drugs and cannabis, it is normal that they consume more because they have a very high opportunity to do it. The average age of the first drug consumption is aroud 13 years old, cannabis is very cheap and provide a lot of thing in street gangs, not only by the gangs but also by people who watch yourself in the street and see you smoking marijuana , they normally won’t harass you. Marijuana is an activity for a lot of youth and they mostly used this drug early, also a lot of influences come from a close friend or family member. In certain case, especially in street gangs, they often start with small drugs and become addict to bigger drug later, as for example cocaine. After all, the social influence is the biggest problem in this case.

MacKenzie, K., Hunt, G., & Joe-Laidler, K. (2006). Youth Gangs and Drugs: The Case of Marijuana. Journal of Ethnicity in Substance Abuse, 4(3-4), 99-134.