Early cannabis use, defined as cannabis initiation prior to age 18 (i.e., age 17 or under), was the primary predictor for drug-use outcomes. Initiation prior to age 18 was selected because: (i) it meant that cannabis initiation occurred prior to military enlistment, while respondents were likely still in high school and living at home, and (ii) only 19.1% of cannabis users (n=539 respondents; 8.5% of the full sample) were “early” cannabis users based on this cutoff, suggesting use prior to age 18 was “early” for this cohort.
