Marijuana use and its relationship to personality were investigated in 984 students between the eighth and twelfth grades. Increasing frequency of marijuana use was found to be significantly related to increased creativity, adventuresomeness, internal sensation novelty seeking and impulsivity, and decreased authoritarianism. No differences were noted in manifest anxiety among user groups, but heavier marijuana users earned lower grades in school. Catholics used marijuana the most, Jews were slightly above the mean in usage, and Protestants were lowest. More frequent marijuana use was associated with increased experimentation with other drugs. Multiple-drug users demonstrated increased manifest anxiety and lower grades. College-versus non-college-oriented differences are discussed. The personality profile of the marijuana user is discussed in terms of an "openness to experience" concept, and its value as possibly being predictive of future drug experimentation in present nonusers is mentioned.
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