This study examined the progressive relations among adolescent use of
alcohol, cigarettes and marijuana using latent growth curve analyses.
Specifically, the present study examined three models to determine (1)
the effect of prior cigarette use on alcohol use and development and
the relationship between change in cigarette use and the development o
f alcohol use (N = 115), (2) the effect of prior alcohol use on cigare
tte use and development and the relationship between change in alcohol
use and the development of cigarette use (N = 199); and (3) the effec
t of prior alcohol and cigarette use on marijuana use and development,
and the relationship between change in alcohol use and cigarette use
and the development, of marijuana use (N = 287). Support was found for
the relation between prior levels of substance use and involvement in
other substances. Cigarette use, in particular, was particularly impo
rtant in the subsequent involvement of alcohol and marijuana.