FOR NEWLYWEDS, WIVES HOLD THE POT STRINGS

Men More Likely To Smoke If Women Do

Newly married women significantly influence their husbands' marijuana
use, a new U.S. study suggests, although men hold sway over whether
the couple drinks heavily.

The paper found that men are more likely to resume smoking pot if
their new wives also use the drug. Conversely, if women do not smoke
marijuana, which is illegal in the United States, their husbands are
more likely to kick the habit.

"If it's okay with her, it's okay with him. If it's not okay with
her, it's not okay with him," said Ken Leonard, a senior research
scientist at the Research Institute on Addictions at the University
at Buffalo, which is part of the State University of New York.

The paper, which appears in the spring edition of the Journal of Drug
Issues, is believed to be the first to examine how newlyweds
influence each other's marijuana use, said Dr. Leonard, who did a
previous study that concluded men have more influence over drinking behaviour.

Dr. Leonard and co-investigator Gregory Homish recruited men and
women -- who had average ages of 29 and 27 respectively -- to
participate in their research when they applied for marriage licences
at Buffalo City Hall in the mid-to late-1990s.

Using survey results from 471 first-time husbands and wives, the team
found women held more sway than men, both for resuming and
terminating marijuana use.

"Whether she uses or not is predictive of whether he will stop or
start," Dr. Leonard, who is also a research professor of psychiatry
at the University at Buffalo's school of medicine, said in an
interview. "It was a pervasive effect."

When compared against husbands whose wives did not smoke marijuana,
men whose fiancees smoked pot during the period when they applied for
marriage licences were "significantly more likely" to take up the
drug by their first wedding anniversary, the paper says.

As well, men who had pot-smoking spouses at the time of their first
anniversary were also more apt to start using marijuana by their
second anniversary.

Conversely, wives of marijuana users were not more likely to start
smoking the drug.

The research, which was funded by the National Institute on Alcohol
Abuse and Alcoholism, found marijuana use declined significantly for
both men and women during the first year of marriage.

From the year before marriage through to the second anniversary,
men's use decreased to 19 per cent from 25 per cent. Women's use fell
to 14 per cent from 20 per cent.

While other studies have found that people reduce marijuana use as
they age, Dr. Leonard said that the trend does not explain the
increase in use of the drug among some participants and the large,
fast drop for others.

The reasons behind new wives' influence on their husbands are not
entirely clear. Dr. Leonard speculated that women have a greater role
because relationship dynamics are altered after marriage, giving them
more influence. Wives also tend to have more control over a couple's
social life.

"If she's a marijuana user, for example, and she's developing plans
for the weekend that involve getting together with friends of hers,
it may be more likely that her husband's going to be exposed to this
broader group that will have marijuana available," he said.

On the other hand, he said, women are inclined to become caretakers
of a couple and may want to curb their partner's drug use to protect him.

In terms of heavy drinking, Dr. Leonard believes husbands may have
more influence during the transition to marriage -- the year before a
couple applies for a marriage licence up to their first wedding
anniversary -- because alcohol is legal and women may not take as
much issue with it.

As well, he noted, alcohol is seen as increasing intimacy and sexual
expressiveness. In the early days, a wife may be motivated to adapt
to her husband's drinking to help foster the relationship.