Mass incarceration in the United States has led to millions of parents of minor children being incarcerated, many of whom are Black Americans. The consequences of parental incarceration have rippling effects across generations and result in poor social, economic, and health outcomes among children of incarcerated parents throughout the lifecourse. Research on the effects of parental incarceration on children has focused primarily on externalizing behaviors as a means to control crime and the intergenerational transmission of crime. However, such perspectives are rooted in racism and negates the role of structural racism in maintaining social and economic policies that keep Black American families and communities disenfranchised and under the control of the majority. Theoretical perspectives suggest that parental incarceration increases the risk of adolescent substance use and externalizing behaviors, while others suggest that parental incarceration decreases the risk of adolescent substance use and externalizing behaviors. However, when examining the literature, there are discrepant findings regarding the direction and magnitude of the association between parental incarceration and adolescent externalizing behaviors. This dissertation focuses on explaining reasons for and reconciling these discrepant findings, and exploring and expanding the literature on parental incarceration and adolescent substance use which has not been adequately synthesized to date. This dissertation consists of five chapters. The first chapter is an introduction to the dissertation. Chapter 2 is a systematic review of the literature on parental incarceration and adolescent cigarette, alcohol, and cannabis use. Chapter 3 is an empirical study that assessed the association between parental incarceration and past year adolescent alcohol and cannabis use, and externalizing behaviors using data from the Fragile Families and Child Well-Being Study (Fragile Families). Fragile Families is well-suited for assessing the association between parental incarceration and adolescent substance use and externalizing behaviors because it includes a diverse sample of adolescents and their parents, various measures of parental incarceration over time, and a wealth of information on adolescent outcomes. This diverse sample also makes it possible to assess effect modification by race/ethnicity, which other studies may have been underpowered to assess considering the lack of racially and ethnically diverse samples. Chapter 4 used data from Fragile Families and The National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (Add Health) to empirically examine if discrepant findings existed across these datasets regarding the association between parental incarceration and adolescent cannabis use. Prior studies have shown discrepant findings regarding parental incarceration and offspring externalizing behaviors across these datasets; however, adolescent cannabis use has not been assessed in Fragile Families to identify potential discrepancies. This dissertation concludes with Chapter 5, which provides a summary of the key findings, and discusses the public health impact of this research and future directions. The systematic review provided evidence that there is a positive association between parental incarceration and adolescent cigarette and cannabis use. However, more research is needed to determine if these associations are purely correlational or potentially causal. Findings from the review did not suggest that parental incarceration was associated with adolescent alcohol use. Two out of three studies included in the review assessed binge drinking/episodes of heavy drinking, which may have impacted results. In contrast, Chapter 3 showed support for a positive association between parental incarceration and adolescent alcohol use in the past year (any vs. none; relative risk [RR]=1.54, 95% CI=1.17-2.03) using data from Fragile Families. Chapter 3 showed that both maternal and paternal incarceration were associated with adolescent alcohol and cannabis use (RR=1.25, 95% CI=1.01-1.55), and externalizing behaviors (delinquency scale: incidence rate ratio [IRR]=1.18, 95% CI=1.01-1.36 and CBCL: IRR=1.14, 95% CI=1.02-1.28). Findings also suggested that the associations between lifetime parental incarceration and adolescent alcohol and cannabis use, and externalizing behaviors were different by adolescent race; however, data were not sufficient to assess interaction effects. In Chapter 4, the association between parental incarceration and adolescent cannabis use was shown to be different across Fragile Families and Add Health (association between maternal incarceration during adolescence and adolescent past month cannabis use: RRFragile Families=2.09, 95% CI=1.36,3.21 vs. RRnon-post-stratification-weighted Add Health=1.27, 95% CI=0.77-2.10, magnitude of difference=39.2%), which was expected based on prior studies assessing parental incarceration and adolescent externalizing behaviors across these studies. Generally, findings were in the positive direction, but the magnitude of associations were inconsistent. Reweighting Add Health to have the sample distribution of adolescent gender, age, and race as Fragile Families was hypothesized to lead to congruent findings across these studies. Nonetheless, reweighting Add Health resulted in measures of association being further away from those in the non-poost-stratification-weighted Add Health sample; thereby further away from the Fragile Families sample (association between lifetime paternal incarceration and adolescent past month cannabis use: RRFragile Families=1.34 vs. RRnon-post-stratification-weighted Add Health=1.44 vs. RRpost-stratification-weighted Add Health=1.53). In conclusion, results from these studies indicate that there is a positive association between parental incarceration and adolescent cannabis use, and externalizing disorder. However, findings are inconsistent regarding the effect of parental incarceration on adolescent alcohol use, and regarding the association between parental incarceration and adolescent outcomes across Fragile Families and Add Health. These studies attempted to reconcile discrepant findings and provide a novel method for reconciling discrepant findings across different exposures and outcomes in future studies.

Undergraduates at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (N = 306) were surveyed to investigate the formation of alcohol and marijuana use motives. Based upon a hypothesized path model effect expectancies, use motives, use frequencies, and use-related problems for alcohol and marijuana were assessed via self-report. Personality factors of sensation-seeking, sociability, and neuroticism-anxiety were also assessed during this single session. Many of the hypothesized pathways were confirmed via multiple regression methods for path analysis. The findings indicated that use motives are related to theoretically more distal influences such as related personality factors and drug effect expectancies. Motives were found to consistently account for substantial variation in use and the development of problems related to alcohol and marijuana in the sample. In some cases these motives not only predicted use, but also appeared to mediate the influences of personality factors and expectancies. Finally, specific motives were found to account for significant variation in the development of substance-related problems even after controlling for the frequency of use. / Master of Science

The purpose of this study was to analyze factors that predict marijuana use and grade point average among undergraduate college students using the Core Institute national database. The Core Alcohol and Drug Survey was used to collect data on students’ attitudes, beliefs, and experiences related to substance use in college. The sample used in this study was delimited to include only full-time undergraduate students (N =111,664) and data were collected from 2011 to 2015. Six research questions provided the foundation of the study, which was operationalized by Astin’s (1993) input environment outcome model (IEO). Descriptive analysis was conducted to describe the sample in terms of individual and institutional characteristics, campus experiences, and substance use. Comparative analyses including one-way analysis of variance and two-way analysis of variance were conducted to determine statistical significance of differences between groups for gender, ethnic origin, marijuana use, and grade point average. Effect sizes were calculated for each ANOVA to determine the magnitude of the effect and practical significance for the population. Finally, inferential analyses using hierarchical, multiple regression were conducted to predict marijuana use. The regression model was also used to explore factors predicting medical marijuana and recreational marijuana use among students in the 2015 cohort. Statistically significant results were reported for each regression model. Statistically significant at p < .001, the factors that explained 42.2% of the variance in the final model included: gender, ethnic origin, age, institutional control, campus locale, intercollegiate athletics, social fraternities and sororities, music and performing arts, alcohol use, illegal drug use change, perceived risk of harm from trying marijuana once or twice, and perceived risk of harm from smoking marijuana regularly. Implications for policy, practice, and future research regarding marijuana use and academic performance are included. / Includes bibliography. / Dissertation (Ph.D.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2017. / FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection

Since 2012, many states and Canada have legalized the use and sale of recreational marijuana. One of the expected benefits of the legalization is that the establishment of a legal cannabis market would eliminate the black market which has been the main form of marijuana trade for decades. Even though legal options are available for marijuana producers and consumers, the black market is still thriving in states where recreational marijuana has been legalized. The reasons behind the persistence of the marijuana black market are complex. One of the main arguments is that the legalized states have failed to establish a regulatory framework which effectively keeps both producers and consumers in the legal market. Instead, strict regulations and high cost of compliance have created an environment in favor of big players while driving small-scale businesses into the black market. The current research attempts to study this issue by answering the research question of whether overregulation is pushing some marijuana businesses back to the black market or preventing them from entering the legal market. This thesis employs a mix-method design to analyze qualitative data of news articles reporting the reasons that marijuana businesses decide to stay in the black market and a quasi-experimental time series analysis of National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS) data regarding marijuana offenses in Colorado and Washington between 2014 and 2017. The qualitative analysis of news reports reveals that regulation is one of the main reasons that people stay in the illicit market. The comparison of marijuana crime trends in Colorado and Washington shows mixed findings. While marijuana offense rates in Colorado largely remained steady over the years, those in Washington increased dramatically after the implementation of more intensive regulations. The results of this study have several policy implications for the marijuana legalization as well as implications for future research on the black-market issue.

Bipolar disorders (BD) are characterized by symptoms of grandiosity, decreased need for sleep, pressure to keep talking, flight of ideas, distractibility, increased goal-directed activities, psychomotor agitation, and excessive involvement in pleasurable activities. Those with a bipolar disorder have a high degree of psychiatric comorbidity including substance use disorders, and they also experience increased mortality. Despite the widespread recognition of BD as an important psychiatric condition, available population-based estimates for BD prevalence differs across data sources. Cannabis is one of the most widely-used illicit substances. Evidence supports it as a risk factor for psychotic symptoms and disorders. Because populations with psychotic disorders and populations with bipolar disorder share genetic characteristics, cannabis may increase risk for bipolar disorders through the same pathways as it does with psychotic disorders. Limited and conflicting evidence regarding the association of cannabis use and bipolar disorder is currently available. This dissertation investigates cannabis use as a risk factor for incident manic symptoms and bipolar disorders in a large nationally representative longitudinal cohort. The first aim of this dissertation is to evaluate the implications for manic, hypomanic and major depressive episode prevalence estimates arising from the different approaches to assessing DSM-IV criterion between two national surveys. Differences in the assessment of impairment strongly influence manic or hypomanic classification within the NESARC. Compared to multiple imputation estimates (19.7% [95% CI: 19.3-20.1]) which treat depressed mood and anhedonia as separate symptoms, symptom assessment in the NESARC substantially underestimates major depressive episode prevalence (16.9% [95% CI: 16.1-17.6]). The second research objective examined self-reported cannabis use as a risk factor for incident manic symptoms, bipolar spectrum disorders (including manic and hypomanic episodes) and SCID-based recalibrated BD I and II. Cannabis use risk was assessed in the population as a whole and in sub-populations defined by age, substance abuse/dependence status, and family history. Among those reporting no lifetime major depressive or manic symptoms at baseline, self-reported past-year cannabis use was associated with increased odds of an incident week of extremely elevated or irritable mood accompanied by at least two manic episode criterion B symptoms (adj. OR 1.69, 95% CI: 1.08-2.65, p=.02) over the three year follow-up period. Among adults (ages 26 to 45) >=1 reported use(s) of cannabis per week was associated with incident manic or hypomanic episodes (adjusted OR 2.52, 95% CI: 1.32-4.80, p=.006). Among those endorsing no major depressive symptoms, substance abuse/dependence, or anti-social traits in their first degree relatives, past year cannabis use is associated with increased risk for incident bipolar spectrum disorders (adjusted OR 2.27, 95% CI: 1.01-5.10, p=.05) and CIDI recalibrated BD I and II (adjusted OR 5.49, 95% CI: 1.38-21.9, p=.02). Past year cannabis use risk for DSM-IV manic or hypomanic episodes among those aged 26 to 45 is concentrated in those with a baseline history of a substance use disorder (adj. OR 2.00, 95% CI: 1.10-3.66, p=.02) as compared to those with no such history (adj. OR 1.87, 95% CI: 0.49-7.21, p=.36). The third research objective of this dissertation was a sensitivity analysis using externally-predicted categorized exposures and continuous cannabis use propensities. The sensitivity analysis found evidence of exposure misclassification. Exposures defined by external propensity scores had improved cross-sectional association with bipolar spectrum disorders compared to reported use when both were compared to an external standard. No significant risk estimates were found for categorized predicted cannabis use among groups that were previously found to have significant risk from reported exposure. However, among adults 18 to 45 years of age with no manic or major depressive symptoms at baseline, past year cannabis use propensity (as a log transformed continuous measure) was associated with incident manic or hypomanic episodes (adj. OR 1.49, 95% CI: 1.10-2.03, p=.01). Elevated risk for high cannabis use propensity (>=1 use/week in the past year) was also found in this same group (adj. OR 1.33, 95% CI: 1.03-1.72, p=.03). Among those with no reported history of depression, substance abuse/dependence, or anti-social traits among their first-degree relatives, propensity for past year cannabis use (adj. OR 1.61, 95% CI: 1.11-2.32, p=.01) and propensity for >=1 use/week of cannabis in the past year (adj. OR 1.38, 95% CI: 1.03-1.85, p=.03) were associated with incident manic or hypomanic episodes. Among those without a substance use history at baseline, propensity for past year cannabis use (adj. OR 1.63, 95% CI: 1.33-1.55, p=1 use/week of cannabis in the past year (adj. OR 1.54, 95% CI: 1.26-1.88, p The findings of the first aim support the conclusion that the AUDADIS substantially under-estimated lifetime major depressive episode prevalence compared to an imputed estimate that treated anhedonia and depressed mood as separate and concurrent MDE symptoms. The operationalization of impairment for manic disorders in both the AUDADIS and CIDI strongly influences case identification, with the CIDI having suppressed manic and hypomanic prevalence estimates. Evidence was found supporting the conclusion that self-reported cannabis use is a significant risk factor for incident bipolar spectrum outcomes within subpopulations in a nationally representative cohort. A sensitivity analysis finds evidence that supports the conclusion that increasing cannabis use propensity is associated with increased risk of bipolar spectrum outcomes within population subgroups, with the greatest increased risk among those with the lowest innate risk. Under-reporting of illicit substance use is a major limitation in this dissertation; further study is needed with improved exposure measures.

Sökhundar är ett viktigt verktyg som används av polis och tullverksamhet, men deras detektionsmetodik är inte helt känd. En substans doftprofil är en viktig aspekt i sökhundars detektion, men de är svåra att forska på kemiskt då det finns en diskrepans mellan koncentration och bidrag till doftprofilen. Målet med den här forskningen var att öka förståelsen för sökhundars detektionsmetodik i relation till adsorberade föreningar på damm, samt hur marijuanas doftprofil skiljer sig från doftprofilen av damm som kontaminerats med marijuana. Citron och lime utnyttjades som modellsystem och bitar av deras skal analyserades även direkt. Terpener och terpenoider var de främsta komponenterna av intresse. Forskningen hade ett tvåfaldigt tillvägagångssätt och inkluderade termisk desorption gaskromatografi masspektrometri (TD-GC/MS) samt sökhundsanalys i form av urvalsövningar. Kontorsdamm och köpt standarddamm i storleken av luftburna partiklar (PM) med en aerodynamisk diameter av cirka 10 µm kontaminerades med marijuana, citron, lime och en cannabis-terpenmix i exsickatorer i 1, 3, samt 7 dagar. En sekundär kontaminering med marijuana utfördes också, där dammprovet som kontaminerats med marijuana i 1 dag användes för att vidare kontaminera nya damm- och PM-prover, och dammprov togs även i förvaringsskåp för packade illegala droger. Från TD-GC/MS analysen av laborativ kontaminering av marijuana detekterades totalt 25 föreningar av intresse i dammprovet, och 57 i PM-provet. Från TD-GC/MS analysen av citron framkom det att fler monoterpener (C10H18) än sesquiterpener (C15H24) detekterades i direktanalysen av citronskal, och det motsatta i analysen av de kontaminerade damm och PM-proverna. Utgående från detta är det troligt att doftprofilerna från ren marijuana samt marijuana kontaminerad på damm eller PM också skiljer sig åt. Sökhundarna markerade dock på båda proverna som kontaminerats med marijuana under 1 dag med stor säkerhet, och vissa markerade även på prover med kortare kontamineringstid och proverna från förvaringsskåpet. Inga eller få föreningar av intresse detekterades med TD-GC/MS i vissa av de prover som hundarna markerade på, vilket exemplifierar att hundarna har en högre sensitivitet vilket försvårar forskningen kring doftprofiler som hundarna kan detektera. Användningen av sökhundsanalys på dammprover som tagits från platser av intresse kan vara en möjlig metod för att detektera marijuana, och eventuellt även andra illegala substanser. / Detection dogs are an important tool utilized by police forces and customs, but their method of detection is not fully known. The odor profile of a substance is of major importance during dog detection, but they are difficult to research chemically due to the disconnection between concentration and contribution to the odor profile. The purpose of this research was to increase the knowledge regarding the mechanism of detection dogs in relation to adsorbed components on dust, as well as of how the odor profile of marijuana differs to that of dust contaminated with marijuana. Lemon and lime were utilized as model systems and pieces of peel were analyzed directly. Terpenes and terpenoids were the main compounds of interest. The research consisted of a dual approach, utilizing both thermal desorption gas chromatography mass spectrometry (TD-GC/MS), and detection dog analysis in the form of selection exercises. Office dust and bought particulate matter (PM)-like standard dust with an aerodynamic diameter of about 10 µm was contaminated with marijuana, lemon, lime, and a cannabis terpene mix in desiccators for 1, 3, and 7 days. A secondary marijuana contamination was also conducted, where the 1-day dust sample contaminated with marijuana was used to contaminate new dust and PM samples, and dust samples were also taken in storage units of packaged illicit drugs. From the laboratory contaminated samples with marijuana, a total of 25 compounds of interest were detected by TD-GC/MS from the dust samples, and 57 from the PM samples. From the direct TD-GC/MS analysis of lemon peel, it was evident that more monoterpenes (C10H18) than sesquiterpenes (C15H24) were detected, and the contrary was found for the lemon contaminated dust and PM samples. This entails that the odor profiles of marijuana as is and adsorbed on dust or PM is also likely to differ. Still, the detection dogs were able to detect the dust and PM samples which had been co-stored with marijuana for 1 day, and some also alerted to a few of the secondary contaminated marijuana samples as well as the samples from marijuana storages. None or only a few compounds of interest were detected by TD-GC/MS in some of the samples the detection dogs alerted to, which highlights the higher sensitivity of detection dogs, and thus the difficulty of chemically researching odor profiles the dogs can detect. All in all, detection dog analysis of dust collected at scenes of interest may be a viable method to detect marijuana, and perhaps other illicit drugs.

Cette enquête a pour but de comprendre les conditions d’émergence et de continuité (sans interruption) de l’action du Mouvement Marche de la Marijuana à Recife, Brésil. Ce mouvement a parmi ses ambitions l’envie de changer les normes relatives à la marijuana. Ainsi, la recension de la littérature sur la marijuana et les mouvements sociaux a été l’un des éléments constitutifs de ce travail. L’enquête de terrain s’est déroulée entre 2012 et 2016, après quoi le Mouvement Marche de la Marijuana a étendu la motivation de son action et est devenu de plus en plus identifié comme un mouvement antiprohibitionniste, ce qui signifie que sa revendication a été élargie et qu’il a commencé à demander l’abolition des sanctions pour beaucoup d’autres transactions. Le texte est divisé en quatre parties, en bref, elles se réfèrent à des théories et des méthodes, des controverses, des performances et des changements liés à la marijuana. Du côté théorique, l’enquête est basée sur une perspective pragmatiste d’analyse de problèmes publics. En ce qui concerne les méthodes, l’observation participante est le fondement de la recherche et, par conséquent, l’ethnographie des situations qui sont en concurrence pour l’organisation, la mise en œuvre et la défense de l’action collective est l’un des éléments importants de la restitution des résultats de l’enquête. Cette action qui se déroule en public a été thématisée sous la métaphore de la performance. L’analyse biographique et l’analyse de documents sont aussi employées. Ainsi, les conclusions permettent de résumer la longue histoire de controverses sur la marijuana au Brésil et d’exposer le processus de changement d’une revendication collective qui occupait le « lieu du maconheiro (fumeur de marijuana) » et qui est passée au « couloir des mouvements sociaux ». Enfin, la thèse cherche à démontrer que le changement de normes dépend non seulement de ce qui est dit sur un sujet, mais aussi de ce qui se fait et de comment les gens se sentent en essayant d’altérer le cadre dans lequel ce sujet est inséré. / This research was developed with the objective of understanding the conditions of emergency and uninterrupted continuity of the Marijuana March Movement in the city of Recife, Brazil. Such Movement has among its main hopes a change of rules related to marijuana. That being the case, the literature review on marijuana and social movements was one of the constituent elements of this work. The fieldwork was extended from 2012 to 2016, at the end of which the Marijuana March Movement increased the motivation of its action and became increasingly identified as an anti-prohibition movement, which means that its claims were amplified to seek the abolition of penalties for various other transactions. The text is divided into four parts which, in short, refer to theory and methods, controversies, performances and changes concerning marijuana. From the theoretical point, the research is based on a pragmatist perspective of public problems analysis. As for methods, participant observation is the main foundation of this research and, as a consequence, the ethnography of situations that compete for the organization, realization and defense of the focused collective action is a prominent element for the restitution of the results of this research. This public action was thematized under the performance metaphor. The biographical analysis and the documentary analysis are present in the work. Then, the conclusions allow us to summarize the long history of marijuana's controversies in Brazil and to expose the process of changing a collective claim that occupied the "place of the marijuana smoker" and moved to a "corridor of social movements". Finally, this thesis aims to demonstrate that the change of norms depends not only on what is said about a theme, but also on what is done and how people feel in trying to change the framework in which that theme is inserted. / Esta pesquisa foi desenvolvida com o objetivo de compreender as condições de emergência e de continuidade ininterrupta do Movimento Marcha da Maconha na cidade de Recife, Brasil. Tal Movimento tem dentre seus principais anseios a mudança das normas relativas à maconha. Assim, a revisão da literatura acerca da maconha e dos movimentos sociais foi um dos elementos constitutivos do trabalho. A pesquisa de campo se estendeu pelo período de 2012 a 2016, ao fim do qual o Movimento Marcha da Maconha ampliou a motivação de sua ação e passou a ser cada vez mais identificado como um movimento antiproibicionista, o que siginifica que sua reivindicação foi ampliada e ele passou a almejar abolição de penas para diversas outras transações. O texto está dividido em quatro partes que, em suma, referem-se a teoria e métodos, controvérsias, performances e mudanças relativas à maconha. Do ponto de vista teórico, a pesquisa está baseada em uma perspectiva pragmatista de análise de problemas públicos. Quanto aos métodos, a observação participante é o principal alicerce da investigação e, em consequência, a etnografia de situações que competem para a organização, realização e defesa da ação coletiva enfocada é um elemento de destaque para a restituição dos resultados da pesquisa. Esta ação que se realiza em público foi tematizada sob a metáfora da performance. No trabalho, também foram empregadas a análise biográfica e a análise de documentos. Deste modo, as conclusões da pesquisa sintetizam a longa história de controvérsias sobre maconha no Brasil e expõem o processo de alteração de uma reivindicação coletiva que ocupava o “lugar de maconheiro” e passou ao “corredor dos movimentos sociais”. Finalmente, a tese busca demonstrar que a mudança de normas não depende apenas do que se diz sobre um tema, mas também do que se faz e de como as pessoas se sentem na tentativa de alterar o quadro em que o referido tema se insere.

Kronisk smärta är ett utbrett problem och konventionell farmakologisk smärtbehandling upplevs otillräcklig av många patienter. Medicinsk cannabis (MC) diskuteras idag som ett smärtlindringsalternativ, men mer forskning rekommenderas inom området för att fastställa riskerna förenade med kort- och långtidsbehandling. Syftet med litteraturstudien var att undersöka patienters upplevelse av MC som smärtlindrande behandling vid kronisk smärta. En induktiv ansats valdes, varav tre artiklar med kvalitativ ansats, sju artiklar med kvantitativ ansats samt en mixad-metod artikel, inkluderades i resultatet. En analys av materialet genomfördes och teman med tillhörande subteman utformades. I resultatet redovisas olika aspekter, som påverkar upplevelsen av behandling med MC. Stigmatisering kring MC upplevdes förekomma från både omgivning och hälso- och sjukvårdspersonal. Reducerad smärtpåverkan, upplevd ökad livskvalitet och reducering av andra läkemedel var andra aspekter som redovisades, men även oönskade effekter av läkemedlet visade sig förekomma. Litteraturstudien visar att sjuksköterskor bör erhålla kunskap om läkemedlet, samt upplevelsen av det, för att kunna bemöta och informera patienter som efterfrågar denna behandling mot kronisk smärta. Sjuksköterskor behöver samtidigt vara medvetna om risker förenade med läkemedlet och arbeta proaktivt för att undvika att det hanteras fel och missbrukas. / Chronic pain is a widespread issue and conventional analgesic treatment is insufficient for many patients. Medical cannabis (MC) is discussed today as a pain management alternative but more research is recommended in the field to determine the risks associated with short-term and long-term treatment. The aim of this literature-based study was to explore patient´s experiences of MC as an analgesic treatment in chronic pain. An inductive approach was chosen, of which three articles with a qualitative approach, seven articles with a quantitative approach and a mixed-method article were included in the result. An analysis of the content was conducted and themes with associated subthemes were designed. The result presents different aspects that affect the experience of MC as a treatment. Stigmatization related to MC was found to occur from both the surrounding sphere and healthcare staff. Reduced pain-intensity, increased quality of life and reduction of other drugs were reported. The literature study shows that nurses should acquire knowledge about the drug as well as the experience of it, in order to respond to and inform patients who request this treatment for chronic pain. Nurses also need to be aware of the potential risks of the drug with, for example, adverse effects and risk of further abuse, and work proactively to avoid this.

This work analyzed the discursive conflict between the participant subjects in the public debate on the regulation of marijuana in Brazil, in order to understand how these subjects employ medical-scientific and juridical-legal arguments to support propositions based on moral-values conceptions. In this sense, in order to analyze this conflict, it were observed six public hearings promoted by the Federal Senate of Brazil in 2014, which discussed the proposal to regulate the use of marijuana in Brazil. It was considered, initially, that the clash observed at these hearings was between groups of 'moral entrepreneurs', who defended opposing and favorable positions on the regulation. More than this, at some points the discussion develops in such a way that the conflict is between what is 'true' and what is 'false' in this debate. Thereby, the speeches of the 'experts' invited to these hearings were fundamental to ground the argument of the conflicting entrepreneurs to establish the 'correct' position in this debate. That being said, and since juridical-legal and medical-scientific discourses are central to this discussion, the aim of this work is to understand how the 'moral entrepreneurs' involved in this debate employ medical-scientific and juridical-legal ‗discourses‘ to support their propositions. In the attempt to answer this question, a discussion was made on Howard Becker's 'Interactionist theory of deviance' to understand the importance of the moral entrepreneurs actuations in establishing social rules. In addition, some 'methodological tools' pointed out by Michel Foucault in his 'archaeogenealogical' proposal were retrieved in order to understand how the emergence of the current conflict was possible and how the 'regimes of truth' and 'practices regimes' on marijuana use in Brazil have been modified throughout history. / Este trabalho analisou o conflito discursivo entre os sujeitos participantes do debate público sobre a regulamentação da maconha no Brasil, deste modo, buscou-se compreender como estes sujeitos empregam argumentos médico-científicos e jurídico-legais para sustentar proposições baseadas em concepções morais-valorativas. Neste sentido, visando analisar este conflito, foram observadas seis audiências públicas promovidas pelo Senado Federal do Brasil em 2014, que discutiram a proposta de regulamentação do uso da maconha no Brasil. Considerou-se, inicialmente, que o embate observado nestas audiências era feito entre os grupos de ‗empreendedores morais‘, que defendiam posições contrárias e favoráveis à regulamentação. Mais do que isto, em alguns momentos a discussão se desenvolve de tal maneira que o conflito é entre o que é ‗verdadeiro‘ e o que é ‗falso‘ neste debate. Assim, as falas dos ‗especialistas‘ convidados para estas audiências foram fundamentais para embasar o argumento dos empreendedores que estão em conflito para estabelecer qual é a posição ‗correta‘ neste debate. Dito isto, e tendo em vista que os discursos jurídico-legais e médico-científicos são centrais nesta discussão, o trabalho tem por objetivo compreender como os ‗empreendedores morais‘ envolvidos neste debate empregam ‗discursos‘ médico-científicos e jurídico-legais para sustentar suas proposições. Na tentativa de responder esta questão, foi feita uma discussão sobre a ‗teoria interacionista do desvio‘, proposta por Howard Becker, para se compreender a importância da atuação dos empreendedores morais no estabelecimento de regras sociais. Além disso, foram resgatadas algumas ‗ferramentas metodológicas‘ apontadas por Michel Foucault em sua proposta ‗arqueogenealógica‘, com o intuito de compreender como foi possível a emergência do conflito atual e como foram se modificando os ‗regimes de verdade‘ e os ‗regimes de práticas‘ sobre o consumo da maconha no Brasil no decorrer da história.

How adolescents spend their time is a crucial predictor of their engagement in delinquency. Activities with peers away from direct supervision of adults are of concern as more opportunities and motivation to use marijuana exist in such situations. However, adolescents may vary in their propensity to use marijuana when faced the opportunity. Especially adolescents living with a single parent may have a higher propensity compared to those from two-parent households to use marijuana due to reduced parental monitoring and increased peer attachment. This thesis investigates the moderating effects of family structure on the routine leisure activities and adolescent marijuana use relationship, using data from Monitoring the Future Study 2007, 12th Grade Survey. The results provide partial support for the moderating effects.