Why do some young people use cannabis?

When looking at why young people might use any drug, the first thing to keep in mind is that today's young people - more than in any other period in history - are growing up in an environment that encourages various forms of substance use, both medical and non-medical. The pharmaceutical and alternative medicine industries are huge and use their "mega" presence in the market-place to promote a climate of "solution by ingestion".
Another huge factor is the big $$ that the tobacco and alcohol industries put into marketing their products - much of which is aimed at young people. Add to these factors a Western dominated pop culture that young people around the world "consume" and that mostly tolerates drug use. We also need to remember that people have used a wide variety of substances throughout history to satisfy some need or another (ranging from enhancing pleasure, to stress relief, to helping with working longer hours). Young people use substances for many of the same reasons as adults. But when we look at a list of the tasks that young people need to take on to develop their identity, tasks that are a normal part of adolescent development, such as ...
showing independence; developing their own values (apart from parental and societal authority); developing strong peer connections; seeking new and exciting experiences; and taking risks and satisfying curiosity
... we begin to see why cannabis might be popular with young people today. Couple this with the spirit of the times, which one person describes as "a runaway world" filled with uncertainty and a lack of direction, and the importance of substances to some young people is even more understandable.
As with most drug use, the reasons young people give for using cannabis are a mixture of the symbolic and reasons related to cannabis' drug effects. Young people are most often introduced to cannabis by friends. Most use cannabis for the first time out of curiosity and to be sociable. Reasons they report for continuing to use include to relax, feel good, enjoy music and movies, and to be sociable. Those who do not choose to use say they're just not interested or that they fear the adverse health effects. They do not tend to mention the penalties associated with use. Only about 50% of users report that they liked their first experience - many don't feel anything - while some experience unpleasant psychological effects (see next week).
Why some have problems with cannabis use. The reasons for a person developing problems as a result of cannabis use usually stems from a combination of personal, family and school-related factors (for example, having mental health issues, poor family life and/or doing poorly in school). An indicator of likely problems is daily use. A small but important percentage of students report using cannabis daily, and in one survey, over half of all cannabis users reported that they had experienced at least one of three indicators of dependence. Heavy use of cannabis is more likely among street youth. A review of studies shows that frequent use and cannabis use problems are linked with*: