Preventing Teen Marijuana Use Where Adult Use Is Legal: Themes from Parent and Teen Focus Groups

In the fall of 2012, Washington State and Colorado voters approved legalizing the cultivation and sale of marijuana for recreational use by adults age 21 and over, followed by sale in retail outlets in the summer of 2014. New community norms influenced by legalization may lead to further increases in early initiation of marijuana use which, in turn, may lead to higher rates of heavy use and dependence. Given the potential for serious adverse effects on youth, prevention efforts tailored to the context of legal recreational marijuana use are needed; however, little is known at this early stage about what types of messages parents and their adolescent children might find useful and persuasive. To help address this gap, we conducted focus groups to gather information which could be used to develop messages for parents and teens designed to prevent teen marijuana use in the states where it is legal for adults.

Seventy parent/teen dyads were invited to participate in the focus groups. Thirty-five parents and 33 of their adolescent children participated in 6 focus groups (3 parent/3 teen) in Tacoma, Washington in 2013 after the law legalizing adult use of recreational marijuana was passed, but before retail outlets were open. This effort was supplemental to a randomized trial of Common Sense Parenting. The focus groups were semi-structured in that specific questions were raised by the group facilitators and allotted specific amounts of time for discussion before the next question was raised.  Questions addressed parent and teen knowledge and concerns about marijuana in the context of legalization.  All group discussion was recorded and transcribed.  A team of researchers individually and then collectively extracted themes from the focus group discussions. Primary themes arose in all six group meetings and occupied a significant portion of the discussion time for both parents and teens.  These primary themes include:  a) the need for more or better information about the law, b) the negative consequences of marijuana use during adolescence on mental, physical and social health, and c) the need for information/messages to come from trusted sources.  Prevention message themes include a) the use of fear (for and against), b) stories about real people, c) focusing on immediate rather than distal outcomes, and teens needing alternative activities and future plans (something better to do). These themes are being used to develop specific messages to augment WA state efforts to disseminate information about the law (and prevent teen marijuana use) through public service announcements.  Supporting data will be provided for each theme, and implications for family focused prevention programs will be discussed.