Youth at risk: marijuana use among Native American and Caucasian youths

An exploration is undertaken of the relationships between legal control, peer and parental influences, and perceptions of marijuana smoking as risk-taking behavior; and of the use of marijuana in a rural school district that serves a culturally diverse community. Specifically, data were obtained from the school district by means of an anonymous, self-administered questionnaire. A total of 605 questionnaires were obtained from the district, including 104 completed by Native American youth. The linkages between the social control variables, personal biographical data, risk assignments, and self-reported marijuana smoking were significantly different for each of the groups studied. In fact, the variables that revealed the most about Caucasian marijuana smoking revealed the least about this activity among the Native Americans, and vice versa. These findings and their implications are explored.