Cultural Race-Related Stress and Cannabis Use Among Incarcerated African American Men

Objective: Research suggests African American men use cannabis to cope with racial discrimination. This conjecture may also be true for incarcerated African American men, who report high rates of cannabis use prior to and after incarceration. However, no studies to date have examined the association between race-related stress and chronic cannabis use among incarcerated African American men. As this population encounters pervasive negative cultural stereotypes and devaluation from larger society, cultural race-related stress may predict cannabis use among this population. Therefore, the purpose of this brief report was to examine the relationship between cultural race-related stress and years of regular cannabis use among a sample of incarcerated African American men. Method: Study staff completed interviews with N = 177 African American men nearing release from four prisons in Kentucky. The interviews focused on mental health, drug use, and HIV risk behaviors. Participants provided their demographics (e.g., age, years of education, and length of incarceration), self-reported their years of regular cannabis use (3 times or more per week), and completed the Brief Index of Race-Related Stress (IRRS-B; Utsey, Measurement & Evaluation in Counseling & Development, 1999, 32, 149). Results: Multivariate regression analyses demonstrated cultural race-related stress was significant and positively associated with the number of years of regular cannabis use (p =.003) among this population. Conclusions: This finding has implications for culturally tailored substance abuse treatment, specifically for cannabis use, with African American men upon their community re-entry from prison. Public Health Significance Statement This study demonstrates a relationship between cultural race-related stress and regular cannabis use among incarcerated African American men. Our findings highlight the importance of examining drug use as a coping mechanism for cultural race-related stress, which is often exhibited through negative cultural stereotypes. Addressing the negative impact of stereotypes and stigma in substance abuse treatment can improve the quality of treatment provided to African American men after their release from prison.