Part III: Marijuana
For this issue of the Pulse Check, all sources report a wide variety of users and stable or increased use of marijuana. Ethnographers, epidemiologists, and law enforcement officials report an increase in younger users. Treatment providers report that over one third of clients receiving treatment for marijuana abuse are under the age of twenty. Ethnographic and law enforcement sources report the quality of marijuana to be high, due to a growth in indoor and hydroponic domestic marijuana cultivation.
Ethnographers, Epidemiologists, and Ethnographic Sources
Most sources emphasize that marijuana use is popular and widespread. The ethnographer in Bridgeport comments, "[m]any people use it...teens, early adults, middle-aged adults, teachers, lawyers, doctors, factory workers...it crosses all economic and social groups." Most sources report either that use is on the rise or that a large and stable user population keeps the market active.
The ethnographer in Newark notes that an increase in use may be attributable to the number of hydroponic marijuana gardens skyrocketing in the six-month period since the last Pulse Check. Hydroponically grown and other homegrown varieties of marijuana tend to be much higher in THC (delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol) content, and this increases the drug's psychoactive effects. Multiple sources state that increased availability of this higher quality marijuana contributes to increased use. In San Diego, the ethnographer reports that growers are shifting from outdoors to indoors because: (1) growing marijuana indoors is more profitable due to the ability to produce a higher quality product; and (2) there is less risk of detection. This same source reports a particular variety of indoor grown marijuana, "escondido red hair," selling for $5,000 per pound. Consistent with reports of increased hydroponic and indoor marijuana growing, some sources report an increase in THC content and purity, and most sources report a large variability in price according to quality.
In this Pulse Check, the majority of ethnographic sources report an increase in young marijuana users. Sources in Baltimore and Newark report increased use among junior high school students, and the source in San Diego reports that more "kids" are using. Sources in Bridgeport, New York, Chicago, Atlanta, Denver, and Miami note heavy marijuana use in the youth population.
As reported in previous Pulse Checks, marijuana is commonly used with other licit and illicit drugs. Ethnographers in San Francisco and Bridgeport report alcohol as the most common drug abused in combination with marijuana. In Baltimore, users combine marijuana and heroin, and in New York, marijuana is often combined with powder cocaine, crack, heroin, and PCP. Similarly, in Chicago, marijuana is reportedly combined with crack and PCP. Sources in Atlanta report concurrent marijuana/cocaine use and marijuana/methamphetamine use. Finally, sources in Miami report that marijuana is used incombination with a wide range of drugs including alcohol, heroin, and cocaine. In the Miami club scene, it is used with MDMA, Ketamine, and Rohypnol. Sources in Chicago and New York continue to see blunts (cigars with the tobacco hollowed out and filled with marijuana), particularly among the young users.
In most areas there is a wide variety of seller characteristics. In San Francisco, Bridgeport, Miami, Atlanta, and Baltimore, marijuana sellers are reported to be young, though in San Francisco, Denver and Miami, sources report that marijuana sellers typically do not sell other drugs. However, the ethnographer in Atlanta reports combination sales of marijuana and crack; in Newark, marijuana is sold with prescription drugs, and in Eugene, it is often sold with hallucinogens such as LSD and psilocybin.
Law Enforcement Sources
Law enforcement sources vary in their accounts of levels of marijuana use, though all sources agree that it is rising or stable. Sources in Birmingham, Los Angeles, Denver, Bridgeport, Washington D.C., Miami, Boston, Baltimore, Columbia, and Trenton report an increase in use. Sources in Chicago, New York, Cleveland, Eugene, Austin, San Antonio, Seattle, and Yakima report stable use patterns.
User characteristics vary widely, though most sources note either an increase in young users or a significant population of young users. Sources once again note a wide variety of seller characteristics. Only Miami, Eugene, and Seattle officials note polydrug marijuana sellers, while sources in Los Angeles, Baltimore, New York, and Yakima report that marijuana sellers typically do not sell other drugs.
Like the ethnographers, many law enforcement sources note that an increasing amount of homegrown and hydroponically produced marijuana in the market has led to an increase in the overall purity level. Price seems to vary widely according to purity level: a bag of "good" quality marijuana costs about five dollars, while in New York, a bag of hydroponically grown, very high quality marijuana sells for about 25 dollars. Given the wide availability of the drug and the variety of purities on the market, users are likely to find the product they desire with a corresponding range of prices.
Treatment Providers
In the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic/South, and West/Southwest regions, the percentages of treatment clients who cite marijuana as their primary drug of abuse are similar: around 15 percent. This figure is somewhat higher in the Midwest region at 23 percent. The majority of treatment providers in all regions report no change in level of marijuana use, though 32 percent of Midwest treatment providers report an increase in use.
High rates of alcohol and cocaine abuse by marijuana users are reported in all regions. The Mid-Atlantic/South region has the highest rate of cocaine use by the marijuana using population at 36 percent. The Northeast, Midwest, and West/Southwest rates are 18 percent, 10 percent, and 22 percent, respectively. Finally, significant concurrent marijuana and amphetamine use is reported by treatment providers in the Mid-Atlantic/South region (18%) and in the West/Southwest region (22%).
Treatment providers report that the average age of marijuana users seems to have dropped, and this is consistent with reports from other sources. More than one third of clients receiving treatment for marijuana use in all regions are under 20 years old. In the Northeast, this proportion if 46 percent; in the Midwest and West/Southwest, the majority of clients are between 21 and 30. In the Mid-Atlantic and South, there are equal proportions of clients below 20 and between 20 and 30. In all regions, the proportion of clients in treatment for marijuana use over age 30 is the smallest age group.
As with heroin and cocaine, the majority (58-76%) of clients who receive treatment for marijuana abuse are Caucasian and the overwhelming majority are male (64-69%). However, unlike other drugs, the majority of clients who receive treatment for marijuana use in all regions have not received drug treatment previously.
