Researching and writing on marijuana is part of my job. I have been doing it for years. Most of my work revolves around medical cannabis, but research often spills over to the recreational side of things. And all these years I have been dealing with a nagging question: why do so many people want to use marijuana?
I fully understand the medical side of things. I get the fact that a patient might walk into the Beehive Farmacy in Salt Lake City, UT to purchase medical cannabis as an option for managing chronic pain. Beehive Farmacy officials say chronic pain is the number one reason people apply for medical cannabis cards in Utah.
I personally know people who suffer from chronic pain. Some of them will literally do anything to find relief. I understand marijuana’s draw for them. But that does not help me understand recreational consumption. I don’t understand why so many people want to use marijuana any more than I understand why so many people consume alcohol.
Surveys Shed Some Light
Research has led me to a number of surveys that shed some light on the topic. A 2021 Psychology Today piece written by Arash Emamzadeh cites two studies conducted among college students. The first was conducted among 634 participants. It revealed the following six reasons for using marijuana recreationally:
- Personal enjoyment (fun)
- Conforming to peer pressure
- Curiosity and a desire to experiment
- Social motives (not sure what that means)
- Boredom
- To relieve stress
What I find most fascinating is that few responsible adults would recommend using cocaine for the same six reasons. Nearly all of us would tell college students there are better ways to have fun and alleviate boredom and stress. So why don’t we feel the same way about marijuana?
A second study conducted among 1,253 undergraduate students showed slightly different results. Here are the top four reasons the respondents in that study cited for using marijuana:
- Acceptance among peers
- Managing emotions
- Enhancing sexual activity
- Enhancing social interactions
It is interesting that peer pressure tops the list in this second survey and takes the second position in the other survey. This leads me to wonder how many young adults would actually try marijuana if they were subject to no pure pressure at all? As a young person, I never experienced such pure pressure. I also never tried drugs of any kind.
People Enjoy Being Intoxicated
Survey results aside, mere observation seems to suggest that people enjoy being intoxicated. Go to any bar on a given weekend and you will see it for yourself. People consume alcohol recreationally because they like how it makes them feel. That seems to suggest that people like feeling slightly inebriated. Some actually like being drunk.
This is what I don’t get. Maybe it’s just my thing, but I have never enjoyed intoxication. I do not consider losing control of my thoughts and emotions fun. I get no enjoyment from not being able to walk straight, speak coherent sentences, and remember everything I did the morning after.
I need to imagine that recreational marijuana users are like alcohol users in the sense that they like the feeling of being high. That would explain state-legal marijuana sales in the billions of dollars. People like feeling intoxicated and they are willing to spend good money to pursue those feelings.
For me, the big issue is not marijuana legalization. It is why so many people want to use marijuana to begin with. Perhaps I’m just old fashioned and out of touch. If so, I willingly own that. But it doesn’t change anything.