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I. Introduction to the problem
People with a college degree or better are more open to legalizing marijuana. There was a study done in Norway that links this independent and dependent variable together. Pedersen’s (Leukefeld 2009) research on the Norwegian population suggests some stratification among users and non-users based on education. He claims that a parent’s “poor educational attainment” correlates to a child’s greater propensity to use marijuana (Leukefeld 2009). Pedersen also makes the claim that in Norway, college students and graduates are more likely to oppose marijuana legalization, whereas in the United States it is the opposite; higher education is associated with liberal values and a propensity to support legalization. College students are more likely to smoke marijuana and support a legalization policy than non-college students (Goode 1970). Because parents are largely responsible for socializing their children, it logically follows that the higher a parent’s educational level the more likely the respondent will favor legalization. Furthermore, higher educational degree is more supportive of a liberal and middle class value system (Goode 1970).
Education may not only improve a person's financial aspect, but it is also linked to better health condition and a longer life. For example, people with a college degree or higher live about nine years longer than those who do not graduate from high school according to the Centers for Disease Control and Preventions National Center for Health Statistics. "Highly educated people tend to have healthier behaviors, avoid unhealthy ones and have more access to medical care when they need it,"(Rose).
All of these factors are associated with better health. "Highly educated people tend to have healthier behaviors, avoid unhealthy ones and have more access to medical care when they need it,"(Drageset). All of these factors are associated with better health. The report also found that in 2010 24% of boys and 22% of girls were obese in households where the heads of the family had less than a high school education; the figures are 11% of boys and 7% of girls where the head of the household had a bachelor's degree or higher. Poor people sometimes live in less healthy communities with less access to healthy foods and places to be physically active, Drageset say. "It's all interconnected."
Higher education and income levels keys to better health, according to annual report on nation's health. People with higher levels of education and higher income have lower rates of many chronic diseases compared to those with less education and lower income levels (Rose).
After doing this extensive research, I hypothesize that there is a strong association that exists between college students, health condition, and views on legalizing marijuana.
II. HypothesesTable 1: Alternative and Null Hypotheses
Alternative Hypothesis Null HypothesisHypothesis 1 College Students are at an increased risk for
being for legalizing marijuanaCollege Students have the same risk of being for legalizing marijuana as non-college students.
Hypothesis 2 People who have a college degree or higher have better health.
College Students have the same health as non college students
III. Methodology
The data analyzed for this paper originated from The National Data Program for the Social Sciences and was used to assess the social location of pro and anti marijuana legalization respondents. The data collection instrument was the 2008 General Social Survey (GSS), which records basic demographic, attitudinal, and behavioral characteristics of a random quota sample of United States resident’s age 18 and older. Using a face-to-face interview by the National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago created the survey. The 2008 GSS sample contained over 2500 cases but a sample of 805 cases was used for this research; incomplete cases for the assessed variables were removed (Goode).
My research focused mainly on three variables; one independent variable and two dependent variables, which are shown in the table below. The independent variable in this search was highest degree but mainly focused on College level or higher. The dependent variables are health condition and legalization of marijuana. The first dependent variable had to answer the question “Should Marijuana be made legal?” And the two choices were agree or disagree. The second dependent variable posed the question, “How is your health?” and the choices were good, moderate, bad.
Table 2: VariablesVariable Label
Independent Variable 1 Highest Degree (College Students)Dependent Variable 1 Health ConditionDependent Variable 2 Legalization of Marijuana
Table 3: Statistics
Health Condition Should marijuana be made legal
N 1306 1234
Table 4: Views on Legalization of Marijuana by Highest Degree
Highest Degree
Should Marijuana be legal?
Lt High School
High School
Junior College
Bachelor Graduate Total
Agree 38% 47% 53% 49% 56% 48%
Disagree 62% 53% 47% 52% 44% 53%
Total 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100%
N 194 584 96 227 133 1234
Almost half of all college students (49%) and 56% of graduate students support legalizing marijuana as compared to 38 percent of those with some high school education. Yet almost half of high school grads and junior college also support legalizing grass. Whereas 62% of Lt High School disagree about the legalization of marijuana compared to 53% of High school, 47% of Junior College, 52% of Bachelor and 44% of Graduate. This shows a difference of 10 between both agree and disagree on the legalization of marijuana. Using the nominal, and Cramer’s this shows a mixed bag.
Chi Square Test
Significance
Pearson Chi-Square .020
Likelihood Ratio .020
There exists a difference of 10, weak relationship between college student’s views on legalization of marijuana (Cramer’s V is below .30). The margin of error for this sample in this
survey at the 95 percent level of confidence is +/- 2.8% (a 5.6 point spread). We rejected the null hypothesis that College Students have the same risk of being for legalizing marijuana as non-college students, Person chi square (p < .001). The correlation and chi square data show a mixed bag relationship of the validity of our bivariate findings. The outcome we hypothesis is not found in the literature therefore we need to go back in the literature. It could be that it is a youth or cultural thing on legalizing marijuana.
Table 5: Health Condition by Highest Degree
Highest Degree
Health Condition
Lt High School
High School
Junior College
Bachelor Graduate Total
Good 20% 23% 26% 35% 42% 27%
Moderate 33% 48% 46% 51% 46% 46%
Bad 47% 30% 28% 14% 12% 53%
Total 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100%
N 180 656 102 237 131 1206
The data shows that 20% of Lt High School have good health as compared to 23% of high school, 26% of Junior College, 35% of Bachelor and 42% of Graduate. Almost half of Bachelor and Graduates have moderate health as compared to 33% of Lt High School. Lastly, less than 15% of Bachelor and Graduates have bad health as compared to 47% of Lt High School. This last row shows that such a small percentage of college+ have bad health and almost half of the people with Lt High School have bad health. This shows a relationship between the hypothesis that highest degree and health condition have a direct correlation.
Chi Square Test
Significance
Pearson Chi-Square .000
Likelihood Ratio .000
There exists a weak relationship between college students and health conditions (Cramer’s V <), which is below .30. The margin of error for this sample in this survey at the 95 percent level of confidence is +/- 2.7% (a 5.4 point spread). We rejected the null hypothesis that College Students have the same health as non-college students, Person chi square (p < .001). The correlation and chi square data show a false relationship of the validity of our bivariate findings. The outcome we hypothesis is not found in the literature therefore we need to go back in the literature. It could be that is was not college students but income level or even age. It could even be that because people that have a college degree or higher have income and access to health care.
IV. Conclusion The arguments for or against legalizing marijuana are growing in the United States. Many people are opposed to legalization. There are minimum correlations between the position of legalizing marijuana and highest degree. Because this research deals with whether people think marijuana should be legalized or not, this information will contribute to the body of research for public health educators. The findings from this research indicated several trends of pro and anti positions on marijuana legalization, but not all were statistically significant.
After extensive research and literature I was able to reject the null hypothesis, that College Students have the same risk of being for legalizing marijuana as non-college students because my Pearson chi square value was less than 0.05. As stated in the beginning, our alpha is .05. If the “Asymp. Sig” for the Pearson Chi-Square statistic is less than 0.05; there is a relationship between the variables based on the level of confidence we stated in the beginning. As seen in the table above in the methodology section, the Chi-Square significance value is .0.020, which is less than our value of .05, which shows that there is a relationship between highest degree and decision on legalizing marijuana. Finally, I interpreted the test in everyday terms, which also means I looked more closely at the crosstab table as well. In the crosstab table it is clear that Graduate degree are more likely to agree about legalization than Lt High School. I have to note that caution must be taken in interpreting Chi-Square crosstabs. It is not always perfectly clear where the significant differences are. For that reason I would have to go back into the literature and see what else could be the factor holding these two factors together. In addition there was a mixed bag, so there was no real pattern.
I also tested the hypothesis that there was a correlation between highest degree (college students) and health condition. From the research done on this topic I was able to reject the null hypothesis that College Students have the same health as non-college students. Just as the conclusion above states, there were many reasons that led me to reject the null hypothesis. Although I rejected the null, does not mean I can definitely accept the initial hypothesis. There are many factors that can be the link between education and health. I have gone back in the literature and found three possible factors that may be the link. The first is that poor health leads to lower levels of schooling, since poor health in childhood is linked to poor health in adulthood. However, it is unlikely that the correlation between child health and adult health fully explains the relationship between adult health and completed education. The second potential explanation is that additional factors, such as family background or individual differences, both increase schooling and improve health. The third potential explanation for the link between education and health is that increased education directly improves health.
V. References
Drageset, J., Eide, G. E., & Ranhoff, A. (2016). Better health-related quality of life (mental component summary), having a higher level of education, and being less than 75 years of age are predictors of hospital admission among cognitively intact nursing home residents: A 5-year follow-up study. Patient Preference and Adherence PPA, 275.
Goode, Erich. 1969. “Marijuana and The Politics of Reality.” Journal of Health and SocialBehavior 10(2): 83-94.
Leukefeld. 2009. “Reflections on Drug Policy.” Journal of Drug Issues 39(1):71-88.
Rose, S. (2013). The Value of a College Degree. Change: The Magazine of Higher Learning, 45(6), 24-33.
