The 2001–2002 NESARC is a study of a representative sample of the USA conducted by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), described in detail else where (Grant et al. 2003; 2004). The NESARC target population was the civilian non-institutionalized population residing in households and group quarters, 18 years and older. Face-to-face interviews were conducted with 43,093 respondents, with a response rate of 81%. Blacks, Hispanics and young adults (ages 18 -24) were over sampled with data adjusted for over sampling and household-and person -level non-response. The weighted data were then adjusted to represent the U.S. civilian populations based on the 2000 census. The sample of this study included current cannabis users defined as those respondents who used any cannabis at all during the year preceding the NESARC interview (N = 1,603). Current, as opposed to lifetime, cannabis use and abuse and dependence criteria were used to minimize recall bias.
