Using data from the first three waves of a nationally representative US sample followed from adolescence through the early twenties (National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health [Add Health]), Harris et al. (2006) documented increases in alcohol, marijuana, and tobacco use during the transition to adulthood for both White and Black participants, but no evidence of convergence or cross over, though this was not specifically tested (K. M. Harris et al., 2006). More recently, in the same sample followed to early to mid-30s, Chen and Jacobson (2012) documented age-related differences by race and ethnicity in patterns of any substance use. Consistent with prior evidence, Whites had higher prevalence of alcohol, tobacco, and marijuana use in early adulthood. Differences between Black and White young adults either diminished (alcohol) or crossed over (tobacco and marijuana) by the early to mid-30s. However, trajectories of quantity and frequency of use among users may differ in important ways from trajectories of any use. For example, previous research has demonstrated that Black young adults have different drinking patterns compared with Whites, including different beverage preferences and premise
