title: The Association Between Marijuana Usage and Discrimination Among Adult Black Men.
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.
authors: 1 Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA.
authors: Lauren J
authors: LJ
authors: Parker
authors: 1 Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA.
authors: Troyana
authors: T
authors: Benjamin
authors: 1 Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA.|2 Morgan State University, Baltimore, MD, USA.
authors: Paul
authors: P
authors: Archibald
authors: 1 Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA.|3 Duke University, Durham, NC, USA.
authors: Roland J
authors: RJ
authors: Thorpe
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000328:Adult; D001741:Black or African American / Q000523:psychology*; D000367:Age Factors; D015438:Health Behavior; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D008385:Marijuana Smoking / Q000523:psychology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D012309:Risk-Taking; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors
keywords: Black men; discrimination; marijuana; men’s health