Subculture-Stoners

Subculture-Stoners Subculture: Marijuana Smoking Students at HPU This research was conducted September to November 2002 in the downtown Honolulu and Waikiki Beach areas on Oahu. One main data source was participant observation in apartments, dorm rooms, parties and other areas where Hawaii Pacific University students reside and spend free time. Another data source was interviews, both formal and informal with 30 HPU students, 3 female and 27 male. Ages ranged from 17 to 22, with an average of 19. One out of ten was African-American and nine out of ten was white. All had completed high school and were attending Hawaii Pacific University. All smoked marijuana on a daily basis. Fieldwork was done in random locations where marijuana smoking occurred. Nearly all of my informants explained their first experience with marijuana was during adolescence, between the ages of 13 and 19. Most first used marijuana with older peer groups. Minnie talks about her first time smoking marijuana: It was the last Friday of my high school senior year, which is “Senior Skip Day.” My friends and I were at a lake cabin and I went to sit in my friend’s car. They were smoking marijuana and told me to try it. marijuana, smoking, cannabis, students, informants, tobacco, smoke, time, first, drugs, alcohol, tried, smoked, out, hpu, two, substances, ranged, order, new, locations, include, data, culture, around, way, university, trying, through, ten, substance, subject, stress, source, senior