​The widespread belief that marijuana users will eventually and inevitably move on to harder drugs has yet more evidence against it with the release of a new study from the University of New Hampshire.

Science News. In fact, the strongest predictor of whether someone will use hard drugs is their race/ethnicity, not whether they ever used marijuana. Whether teenagers who smoked pot will use other illegal drugs as young adults has a lot more to do with factors such as employment status and stress, according to the new research, reports. In fact, the strongest predictor of whether someone will use hard drugs is their race/ethnicity, not whether they ever used marijuana.

“In light of these findings, we urge U.S. drug control policymakers to consider stress and life-course approaches in their pursuit of solutions to the ‘drug problem,’ ” wrote UNH associate professors of sociology Karen Van Gundy and Cesar Rebellon.





​Young adults who didn’t graduate from high school or attend college were more likely to have used marijuana as teenagers and other illicit substances in young adulthood. Additionally, those who used marijuana as teenagers and were unemployed following high school were more likely to use other illicit drugs.