Religious Involvement and Marijuana Use for Medical and Recreational Purposes

• Author: Amy M. Burdette,Noah S. Webb,Jason A. Ford,Terrence D. Hill,Stacy Hoskins Haynes
• DOI: 10.1177/0022042618770393
• Published date: 01 July 2018
• Date: 01 July 2018
• Subject Matter: Articles

https://doi.org/10.1177/0022042618770393

Journal of Drug Issues

2018, Vol. 48(3) 421 –434

© The Author(s) 2018

Reprints and permissions:

sagepub.com/journalsPermissions.nav

DOI: 10.1177/0022042618770393

journals.sagepub.com/home/jod

Article

Religious Involvement and

Marijuana Use for Medical and

Recreational Purposes

Amy M. Burdette1, Noah S. Webb1, Terrence D. Hill2,

Stacy Hoskins Haynes3, and Jason A. Ford4

Abstract

In this article, we use data from the 2016 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH)

to examine the association between religious involvement and marijuana use for medical and

recreational purposes in U.S. adults (N = 41,517). We also consider whether the association

between religious involvement and marijuana use varies according to personal health status. Our

results show that adults who attend religious services more frequently and hold more salient

religious beliefs tend to exhibit lower rates of medical and recreational marijuana use. We also

find that these “protective effects” are less pronounced for adults in poor health. Although our

findings confirm previous studies of recreational marijuana use, we are the first to examine the

association between religious involvement and medical marijuana use. Our moderation analyses

suggest that the morality and social control functions of religious involvement may be offset

under the conditions of poor health.

Keywords

United States, religion, religious service attendance, substance use, medical marijuana, poor

health

Introduction

Marijuana use for medical and recreational purposes is on the rise (Carliner et al., 2017; Caulkins,

Kilmer, Reuter, & Midgette, 2015; Fairman, 2016; Han et al., 2017; Hasin et al., 2015).

Comprehensive public medical marijuana and cannabis programs are now available in 29 states,

the District of Columbia, Guam, and Puerto Rico. It should come as no surprise that public atti-

tudes have also liberalized over time, with strong majorities of U.S. adults supporting medical

marijuana use and the legalization of marijuana (Gallup, 2017; Quinnipiac University Poll,

2017). Despite these trends, prescribing marijuana remains illegal under federal law where it is

categorized as a Schedule I substance under the Controlled Substances Act of 1970. In the eyes

1Florida State University, Tallahassee, USA

2University of Arizona, Tucson, USA

3Mississippi State University, Mississippi State, USA

4University of Central Florida, Orlando, USA

Corresponding Author:

Amy M. Burdette, Pepper Institute on Aging and Public Policy and Department of Sociology, Florida State University,

526 Bellamy Building, Tallahassee, FL 32306-2270, USA.

Email: aburdette@fsu.edu

770393JODXXX10.1177/0022042618770393Journal of Drug IssuesBurdette et al.

research-article2018