The Avowal of Motives for Marijuana Behavior

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Abstract
Qualitative data on the reasons given by users and nonusers for their behavior were described and categorized according to 21 verbal patterns. These categories were utilized to analyze quantitative data by various investigators, i.e., were the means to compare the frequencies with which each kind of motive was verbalized. Knowledge-ableness was the most frequently expressed motive for the initial use of marihuana. Continued use was largely explained either on the grounds of self-fulfillment or with an appeal to psychological drives. Habitual users in different studies mentioned almost all categories of reasons for smoking more often than did occasional users. Explanations for the 2 types of nonuse were also quite dissimilar. For the discontinued use of marihuana, lack of interest was claimed as the chief motivation; but for never using marihuana, appeals to illegality, injury, drug addiction and morality are asserted more frequently.