Father’s incarceration associated with elevated risks of marijuana and other illegal drug use

Article here. Excerpt:

'In a recently published study in the journal Addiction, researchers from Bowling Green State University report evidence of an association between father’s incarceration and substantially elevated risks for illegal drug use in adolescence and early adulthood.

The number of persons incarcerated in the United States has sharply risen over the past several decades, from about 250,000 in 1975 to 2,250,000 in 2006. So too has the number of children with incarcerated parents, particularly fathers. The consequences of father’s incarceration for their children, families, and communities are of increasing concern to researchers, policy makers, and practitioners.
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Given that having a father in prison is an increasingly common event, this study’s findings suggest that a substantial number of young people in the USA are at risk for drug use. Increased drug use is closely linked to a number of adverse outcomes, including illegal drug market activity, increased crime and incarceration rates, lost work productivity, and costly substance abuse treatment. “Long-term drug use may exacerbate many other problems faced by disadvantaged youth, including mental health issues, delinquency, dropping out of school, domestic violence and poverty,” says the study’s lead author, Dr. Michael Roettger, a Postdoctoral Fellow with the National Center for Family and Marriage Research. Roettger notes that “this is of particular concern within poor and minority communities where incarcerations are disproportionately located.”'