African-American Women's Tobacco and Marijuana Use: The Effects of Social Context and Substance Use Perceptions.

Background: Despite the status of tobacco and marijuana as two of the most commonly used substances in the U.S., both have detrimental health and social consequences for disfranchized African-Americans. Substance use may be shaped by social contextual influences from families and peers in African-American communities, and little research has examined perceptions of wrongfulness, harms, and dangers associated with daily tobacco and marijuana use among African-American women.

Objectives: This study explores the effects of African-American women's social context and substance use perceptions (wrongfulness/harmfulness/dangerousness) on daily tobacco and marijuana use.

Methods: Survey data was collected in-person from 521 African-American women. Multivariate logistic models identified the significant correlates of women's daily use of tobacco and marijuana in the past six months.

Results: 52.59% of participants reported daily tobacco use and 10.56% used marijuana daily. Multivariate models indicated that women were more likely to be daily tobacco users if they had a family member with a substance use problem or perceived tobacco use to be wrong, harmful, or more dangerous than marijuana. In the models with marijuana as the dependent variable, women who lived with a person who used drugs were more likely to use marijuana daily. Perceiving marijuana use as wrong or harmful to one's health was protective against daily marijuana use.

Conclusions: Findings stress the need for prevention and intervention efforts for African-American women that highlight social context influences and promote greater awareness of the health risks associated with daily tobacco and marijuana use.