Pattern of Marijuana Use among Male University Students: A Case Study

An assessment of the pattern of use of marijuana among undergraduate students of Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria was carried out in 2004. The study which was descriptive focused on male students of the university using a set of structured, self-administered questionnaire. Four hundred study subjects were selected from the three male halls of residence through systematic sampling. Only 81 (20.3%) of the 400 selected subjects self-reported the use of marijuana while the remaining 319 (79.7%) were not using the substance. The use of the substance was commonly reported among students age 20-24 years. The prevalence of use among the study population was observed to be lower than 33% recorded in 1981 in the same university. Mean daily reported consumption among the users was 2.27 wraps and the use was common among students residing in Awolowo Hall of the university. A significant relationship exist between use status and respondents opinion as to whether its use should be discouraged or not and the pattern of use was observed to be related to economic status of the students in relation to how much money they had to play with monthly. The paper solicited for youth friendly approaches within the universities through which young people could be assisted in imbibing positive values about life.