Correlates of initiation to cannabis use: a 5-year follow-up of 15-19-year-old adolescents

Initiation to cannabis is often the first step in the use of illicit drugs. We studied the correlates of initiation in a 5-year follow-up study. A tot al of 21.4% of the subjects reported using cannabis at some time. Of the 13 9 users, 89.2% had tried cannabis not more than once or a few times. This i nitiation to cannabis was related to male gender, absence of mother, freque nt lack of interest and early age at first sexual intercourse in logistic r egression analysis. These factors seem to be useful in predicting initiatio n to cannabis. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.