Cannabis Use and Moral Judgment Among College Students

• Published in: Journal of alcohol and drug education Vol. 63; no. 3; pp. 40 - 60
• Main Authors: Chabrol, Henri, Bronchain, Jonathan, Raynal, Patrick, Gibbs, John
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Lansing Journal of Alcohol and Drug Education (JADE) 01.12.2019; American Alcohol and Drug Information Foundation; American Alcohol & Drug Information Foundation
• Subjects: Academic failure; Adolescents; Antisocial Behavior; Antisocial personality disorder; At Risk Persons; Behavior; College Students; Drug Abuse; Drug use; Emotional Development; Ethical aspects; Foreign Countries; Humanities and Social Sciences; Influence; Internet; Juvenile delinquency; Marijuana; Medical research; Mental depression; Mental Disorders; Moral Values; Morality; Personality Traits; Predictor Variables; Psychological Patterns; Questionnaires; Regression analysis; Student Characteristics; Students; Studies; Surveys; Teenagers; Young adults; France; moral judgment; college students; cannabis use
• ISSN: 0090-1482; 2162-4119

The aim of the present study was to evaluate the contribution of the maturity of moral judgment on cannabis use among college students. Participants were 1572 college students who completed self-report questionnaires measuring cannabis use, maturity of moral judgment, and emotional and personality variables. Thirty five percent of men and 30% of women reported having used cannabis at least once during the last 6 months. Logistic regression analysis found that the maturity of moral judgment was a significant predictor of cannabis use versus non-use. This study suggests the importance of evaluating moral judgment in studies of risk factors of cannabis use and to develop effective and non-moralizing interventions targeting permissive beliefs and other socio-cognitive variables determining cannabis use and misuse.