A qualitative study of the attitudes and values of college students pertaining to marijuana

By

Dara Harris

Major: Communication Studies

Program of Study Committee:

Ambassador Washington, Chair
President Logan Hampton
Chico Haley
Andre Mcbride

Lane College

Jackson, TN

2023

Copyright © Dara E. Harris, 2023. All rights reserved.

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Abstract

Societies’ perception of marijuana was always that it was no good for you. People

deemed marijuana as a drug that always messed with your brain, it would be the “main cause” as

to why people were always so lazy and never got anything done. Sadly, all of those ideas are

wrong, marijuana is a drug that is both an upper and a downer. That is all determined by the three

different strains; Sativa, Indica, and Hybrid. Each strain will give you a different feeling, more

than likely though, on a college campus in the state of Tennessee majority of students are

smoking Sativa and Indica.

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INTRODUCTION

Over the years we often saw how African Americans were targets as soon as marijuana became

the thing to do. People would get sentenced obselete years due to them having a little over 2

grams in their car. Then you would be charged with the intent to sell and possesion of an illegal

substance. From there you are a felon and you have to live your ife on eggshells because of that

one incident. I am interested in this topic not only because people around my age group enjoy

recreational marijuana. But also because people are being sent to jail for having as little as 3

grams in their possession which caused them to serve time when the conviction wouldn’t equal

up to the crime. Another reason why I chose this topic because we are now living in a new age

and they’re being legalized in other states so why not do it all around to prevent anymore

unlawful convictions. It’s sad when people who are in college have to deal with police and it’s

almost as if people who are in college always has a target on their back. The police often focus

on black college students, they assume that negative activity is often going on. For years the

black community has faced police brutality and so much more abuse from the law enforcement.

I am conducting research to see if college students who smoke marijuana have attitude

enhancements and to show there are really no cons when it comes to marijuana.

Cannabis, also known as marijuana or hemp, evolved 28 million years ago on the eastern

Tibetian Plateau (Lawler, 2019). Marijuana was originally planted as a herbal medicine, in the

United States during the Mexican Revolution, recreational marijuana was introduced to
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American culture. This was when people saw fit to distribute, buy, and markey marijuana.The

Marijuana Tax Act of 1937 was the first federal law to criminalize marijuana nationwide. This

was first of many laws to make marijuana seem as though it was no good for you. Criminalizing

marijuana not only made African Americans a target, but as college students it seems to be

worse. Often people get humor at fining students or prosecuting them for being in possession of

or smoking marijuana without knowing the full affect it can have on people. Living in an area

where you are prohibited to certain things allows you to become stagnant,

In the state of Tennessee, marijuana is classified has a low potential for dependency or

abuse. Even though its not classified as such, it remains an illegal controlled substance for all

purposes whether it be recreational or medicinal, unless prescribed to by a doctor. In the state of

Tennessee it is common for students on a college campus, whether a TWI or a HBCU, to be in

possession of marijuana. Students use marijuana to help cope with any anxiety they may be

dealing with, sleeping habits, or eating disorders. Based on my research and data collection

marijuna has been proven to be more of a enhancer than a prohibtor.

Purpose of this study

The purpose of this study is to research if marijuana affects college students in any way.

Growing up and being on a college campus myself in a state where it is illegal. I often notice

people will smoke based around their environment, others smoke because there are certain

triggers that they may encounter or mental reasons that cause them to want to gain relief that

way. Marijuana has never had a negative affect on individuals like cocaine, perks, and crack. Yet,

people criminilize it simply because of what other people have wanted us to think. Marijuana is
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the only drug that affectively enhances you without having thoughts of doing anything other than

what you are supposed to do.

Research Question

Three questions guided this study:

1. What’s the first thing you do after smoking marijuana?

2. What influenced you to smoke marijuana?

3. Why do you smoke marijuana?

LITERATURE REVIEW

Cannabis, also known as marijuana or hemp, evolved 28 million years ago on the eastern

Tibetian Plateau (Lawler, 2019). Marijuana was originally planted as a herbal medicine, the

history on its cultivation in America dates back to the early colonists, they grew hemp for textiles

and rope (History editors Onion, Sullivan, and Mullen, 2019). Over the years we often saw how

African Americans were targets after the Mexican Revolution, they introduced America to the

recreational use of marijuana (PBS, 2014). It’s sad when people who come from states where

marijuana is legal to illegal states who are no where near home have to get sentenced in areas

they don’t know. This causes families to worry and stress to arise because they aren’t used to the

petty charges that are often given to African American college students. I am interested in this

topic not only because people around my age group enjoy recreational marijuana. But also

because people are being sent to jail for having as little as 3 grams in their possession which
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caused them to serve time when the conviction wouldn’t equal up to the crime (Senate, 2021).

From then on you are a felon and you have to live your life walking on eggshells because it’s

hard to come back or recover from it. Another reason why I chose this topic because we are now

living in a new age and they’re being legalized in other states so why not do it all around to

prevent anymore unlawful convictions. It’s sad when people who are in college have to deal with

police and it’s almost as if people who are in college always has a target on their back. The

police often focus on black college students, they assume that negative activity is often going on

(Takei, 2018). For years the black community has faced police brutality and so much more abuse

from the law enforcement (Schwarz, 2003). I am conducting research to see if college students

who smoke marijuana have attitude enhancements and to show there are really no cons when it

comes to marijuana. The transition from high school to college is marked by newfound

independence, intellectual growth, and repeated encounters with substance use and abuse

(National Library of Medicine, Stewart, Moreno., 2013). Roughly 25% of marijuana consumers

initiate use after starting college (National Library of Medicine, Stewart, Moreno., 2013). The

Theory of Planned Behavior suggest that a person’s behvaior is determined by his or her

intentions to perform the behavior. This intention, in turn, is a function of his or her attitudes

toward the behavior (National Liberty of Medicine, Stewart, Moreno., 2013). As the legalization

of marijuana spread across the United States, college campuses in many different areas began to

see a drastic increase of how many students would bring it on campus. Legalizing marijuana has

always been a debate on whether prohibiting or decriminalizing it would lead to a increase usage

of marijuana by young people. Studies show that marijuana use has increased by 20 percent in

the states that legalized it (Abdulahi, 2023).

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METHODS

For this study, the survey was conducted using qualtrics, the phase of the study was the

administration of the survey. Data collected during this phase was used to obtain the respondents

perception of the roles marijuana has on college students. Data collected from this phase was

used to consider the respondents personal affects and feelings towards marijuana as they go

through there day to day as college students. However, this study only answers the research

question based on the findings of the literature reviewed. The research investigator would need

to conduct more empirical research to obtain a definitive answer to the research question.

Qualitative Research Approach

A qualitative research approach for this study was chosen because qualitative methods

are especially useful in discovering the meaning that people give to events that experience

(Merriam, 1999). The phenomenological method was specifically used to understand how the

attitudes of the participants were affected when they consumed marijuana.

The qualitative research method used for this research was the Snowball method. The

snowball sample is a technique used in research where the researcher uses participants to help

assist in finding more people to help conduct the research. Snowball sampling was used during

this research to help find the most participants possible in West Tennessee and Nevada. The first

fifteen people to take the survey were people in connection with others who already helped find

other participants to conduct the research.

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Participants

All marijuana smokers were selected for participants in this study since they would be the

most knowledgeable about the affects of marijuana. The goal of this study was to see if

marijuana affects students on a college campus and does it hinder them from doing what they

need to do as students. It is important for the participants to not only be students but

knowledgable enough to know if the marijuana affects them in any way. The experiences college

students have gone through with marijuana made this study a bit more interesting, the affect

marijuna has on college students is drastic honestly, people often use marijuana to cope with

many situations in their life and it helps people do what they need to do.

Before conducting my survey they had to read an Informed Consent that included a

description of the research study, research procedures, risk, and benefits of participation in the

study, participant rights, and protection of confidentiality. People who signed the consent form

became participants in the study and received in depth detail about the survey process and

procedures along with a copy of the survey questions (APPENDIX A). At this point over fifty

participants took the survey who were all marijuana smokers.

Role of Researcher

In the qualitative research, the researcher is the primary research instrument. What the

research brings to the investigation from his/ her own background and identity should be treated

as his or her bias (Maxwell, 2005). Since qualitative research is interpretive research, researcher

biases, beliefs, and assumptions can intrude into the analysis of data (Strauss & Corbin, 1998)
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Data Collection Method

While data collection and data analysis activities were intricately mixed together

throughout the phase of the study. They will be described separately. The primary source of data

for this study was survey questions and field notes.

For this study, all participants took a survey on qualtrics. In the beginning of the survey

all participants were reminded of the purpose of the study and also agreed to be part of this

research by signing a consent form. The first five questions were demographics to gain more

knowledge about who the participants were during this study. The following questions all

revolve around the affect marijuana has on an individual and if after they smoke they are

productive or lazy.

The second method to collect data during this research was field notes. The field notes

were taken at Delta Park & Parkridge Apartments in Jackson, Tennessee and Azure apartments in

Las Vegas. Delta park was full of students, everyone congregating and having a grand time. After

observing I noticed students, majority of students who only smoke without drinking alcohol all

are calm and mellow. Honestly they all just vibe and go with the flow, usually after they smoked

they would roll up again. Some people I noticed that they would smoke and roll up again because

of anxiety or because they really do not want to be phased by anything else outside. In the

Parkridge Apartments, I observed some people on their balconies smoking and it would be in a

sense of relaxation. Some of my neighbors would sit outside with their pets and listen to music,

others would go outside and walk around the complex while smoking and be as calming as

possible. While in the Azure apartments I noticed when residents were smoking marijuana they

were a bit more calmer than out here. It being legal in Nevada played a major part, students at

UNLV smoked marijuana and were all calm more athletes than anything engaged in smoking and
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they precieved themselves to lax and they also were very productive. They would go to different

seasonal football practices and other students would continue their work if they had anything

due. All were different yet and still the same, marijuana is moreso a calmer and an upper than

anything.

Field Notes

I observed in two areas, one at Delta Park and the other around my apartment complex.

While I was at Delta Park, I noticed that it was a mixture of grop behaviors. In my apartment

complex i noticed that they dont like to cause too much attention to themselves. Nine times out

of ten this is also after people are just getting off of work or coming home from school, so it’s

not really a reason for them be rowdy or want to cause any attention to themselves. Being an

observer just made me even more aware of what people really do, I noticed a lot of people really

do have good intentions and understand how to not make smoking marijuana “a bad thing” you

would be surprised at how many scholars smoke and they don’t let that get in the way of what

they have going forward with their academics.

Delta Park Delta Park

● One area was calm and just listened to
the music
● Another group was loud, they were
real active
● There was a person cooking/ grilling
in the midst*
I thought this whole group was pretty
common for my peers here on campus.
Everybody is different and they function in
their own groups however they please. You
notice people really can be cordial when they
are open to be who they truly are.

Apartment Complex Apartment Complex

● People were sitting on their porches Things are always calm and there are never
with their dogs really any major problems when everyone
● Others were on their devices (ipads, comes outside. It seems to make people more
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phones, and laptops) productive and they can get a lot of things
● Another group of people were seated done.
in their car either watching something
or listening to music

Data Analysis

Analysis occurred in two phases. First, field notes were used to observe people in their

natural environment with smoking marijuana. The first phase was crucial to understand moreso

on how they act after the smoke. Often they were viewed as too giggly or mellow. In order to

make a final judgement you must see that with your own eyes. This would be why this was a

very important part of this research. At a point there were students who were hesitant with even

continuing engaging in smoking marijuana in the state of Tennessee because of people putting

fentanyl in their strains.

Secondly, surveys were conducted to understand more in depth about peoples’ attitudes

towards marijuana and if it affects them in any way. Most people overall had mellow and

affective experiences when it came to smoking in these different settings.

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REFERENCES

Sobrino, M. (2020, 04 29) Description of Attitudes, Knowledge and Beliefs on Marijuana in

Undergraduate Students Compared To Nursing Undergraduate Students.

https://opencommons.uconn.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1677&context=srhonors_theses

Hallet, S. Chen, Shu- Ping. (2022, 03 2022) Perceptions and Attitudes of University and College

Students Towards Cannabis Use. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11469-022-00777-2

O’ Grady, K. (2015) The Academic Consequences of Marijuana Use during college. University

of Maryland. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4586361/

MacDougal, C. (2021) Students Perceptions of Cannabis Use.

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/07448481.2021.1910272