title: Is 4/20 an Event-Specific Marijuana Holiday? A Daily Diary Investigation of Marijuana Use and Consequences Among College Students.
abstract: Given the popular association between April 20 ("4/20") and marijuana, the present study examined marijuana use and consequences on 4/20 compared with other days in order to test whether 4/20 is a high-risk, event-specific marijuana use holiday among college student marijuana users.
  
  
  
  Fifty-nine college student marijuana users from three different, large U.S. universities located in Virginia, New Mexico, and Colorado completed daily brief surveys (<10 minutes) over a 12-day (April 15-April 26) period assessing prior-day marijuana use (i.e., percentage of users who consumed marijuana, number of unique marijuana use sessions, subjective high/intoxication while under the influence of marijuana, and number of grams of marijuana consumed) and marijuana-related consequences.
  
  
  
  Using oneway repeated-measures analyses of variance, we found that (a) 50% of students reported using marijuana on 4/20, which was significantly more than weekdays (28%) and weekend days (37%); (b) students reported a significantly higher number of unique marijuana use sessions on 4/20 (M = 1.47) compared with weekdays (M = 0.91); and (c) students reported a significantly higher number of grams consumed on 4/20 (M = 0.79) compared with weekdays (M = 0.35) and weekend days (M = 0.47).
  
  
  
  Our study provides preliminary support that 4/20 is a day associated with increased marijuana use but provides little evidence for an association with more problematic use.
authors.affiliation: Center on Alcoholism, Substance Abuse, & Addictions, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico.
authors.forename: Adrian J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Bravo
authors.affiliation: Center on Alcoholism, Substance Abuse, & Addictions, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico.
authors.forename: Matthew R
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Pearson
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado.
authors.forename: Bradley T
authors.initials: BT
authors.lastname: Conner
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado.
authors.forename: Jamie E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Parnes
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D003120:Colorado / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006693:Holidays / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D002189:Marijuana Abuse; D008385:Marijuana Smoking / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology*; D008499:Medical Records; D009516:New Mexico / Q000453:epidemiology; D013334:Students / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014495:Universities; D014768:Virginia / Q000453:epidemiology; D055815:Young Adult