--- title: Students in College Debt Likely Smoking More Weed, Wall Street Analysts Say description: The surging price of student loans pushed them to marijuana in unexpected ways, says Wall Street firm Cowen. Because it gives a stronger high. authors: - name: Lucinda Shen url: https://money.com/author/lucinda-shen/ at_money_since: 2017 articles: 23 covers: - Education - Banking - Business - Economy and Politics - Insurance - Investing - Lifestyle - Shopping - Technology social: - https://x.com/shenlucinda former_staff: true published: '2017-04-21T15:46:20.000Z' modified: '2024-04-17T05:42:47.000Z' section: Education tags: - Drugs - Marijuana - onetime word_count: 290 canonical: https://money.com/marijuana-student-debt-link/ type: Article source: structured-blocks --- > **Disclosure:** We research all brands listed and may earn a fee from our partners. Research and financial considerations may influence how brands are displayed. Not all brands are included. [Learn more](https://money.com/page/disclaimer/). ![students-college-debt-smoking-more-weed](https://img.money.com/2017/04/students-college-debt-smoking-more-weed.jpg) The onerous cost of higher education has been blamed for many things — and now, it may be responsible for driving up marijuana use in unexpected ways. In 2016, the [average student lender](https://money.com/student-loan-defaults-record-2016/) left college with a massive [$35,000 cost already on their books](https://money.com/why-student-loan-crisis-is-worse-than-people-think/) — about three times [what their parents](https://time.com/3966521/parents-college-funding/) had to worry about when leaving university about two decades ago. That's raised alarm bells for policy makers, who say it has a lasting effect not only on the rest of the student's lives — but also the larger economy. In 2015, for instance, the Federal Reserve found higher [student loans led to fewer home owners](https://www.federalreserve.gov/econresdata/feds/2016/files/2016010pap.pdf). Graduates hoping to pay back those loans are also likely to spend less in general — which, in turn, can lead to a slower economic growth. But a team of analysts at investment firm Cowen had another thought: Perhaps it's driving younger Americans to go for marijuana because it gives a stronger high than alcohol. "This shift towards higher student loan debt levels disproportionately affect millennials who are likely more price sensitive," wrote a team of Cowen analysts led by Vivien Azer in a Thursday note. "Supporting our contention that 'Buzz for Your Buck' considerations are driving substitution among this younger cohort." The [team noted that over the past seven years](http://fortune.com/2017/04/21/marijuana-alcohol-stocks-420/), cannabis usage among those between 18-25 has risen 4.6% in the U.S., while alcohol consumption has fallen 2.5%. Demand for the two items have appeared to move inversely over the past few decades, according to the firm. Meanwhile, student debt as a proportion of overall household debt has grown to 36% — higher than credit card debt and auto loans. Ironically, students convicted of marijuana possession become ineligible for federal student loans. ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "@id": "https://money.com/marijuana-student-debt-link/#breadcrumb", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://money.com" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Education", "item": "https://money.com/education/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Student Financial Aid", "item": "https://money.com/student-financial-aid/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Students in College Debt Likely Smoking More Weed, Wall Street Analysts Say" } ] }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://money.com/#website", "url": "https://money.com", "name": "Money", "publisher": { "@id": "https://money.com/#organization" } }, { "@type": "WebPage", "@id": "https://money.com/marijuana-student-debt-link/#webpage", "url": "https://money.com/marijuana-student-debt-link/", "name": "Students in College Debt Likely Smoking More Weed, Wall Street Analysts Say", "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://money.com/#website" }, "datePublished": "2017-04-21T15:46:20.000Z", "mainEntity": { "@id": "https://money.com/marijuana-student-debt-link/" }, "inLanguage": "en-US", "breadcrumb": { "@id": "https://money.com/marijuana-student-debt-link/#breadcrumb" }, "dateModified": "2024-04-17T05:42:47.000Z" }, { "@type": "Article", "headline": "Students in College Debt Likely Smoking More Weed, Wall Street Analysts Say", "articleSection": "Education", "image": [ { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://img.money.com/2017/04/students-college-debt-smoking-more-weed.jpg", "width": 5004, "height": 3336, "caption": "students-college-debt-smoking-more-weed" } ], "author": [ { "@type": "Person", "name": "Lucinda Shen", "url": "https://money.com/author/lucinda-shen/", "@id": "https://money.com/author/lucinda-shen/#author", "sameAs": [ "https://x.com/shenlucinda" ] } ], "publisher": "https://money.com/#organization", "datePublished": "2017-04-21T15:46:20.000Z", "description": "The surging price of student loans pushed them to marijuana in unexpected ways, says Wall Street firm Cowen. Because it gives a stronger high.", "abstract": "The surging price of student loans pushed them to marijuana in unexpected ways, says Wall Street firm Cowen. Because it gives a stronger high.", "@id": "https://money.com/marijuana-student-debt-link/", "inLanguage": "en-US", "dateModified": "2024-04-17T05:42:47.000Z", "wordCount": 290, "keywords": [ "Drugs", "Marijuana", "onetime" ], "about": [ { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Education", "sameAs": [ "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Education" ] }, { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Student financial aid", "sameAs": [ "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Student_financial_aid" ] } ] } ] } ```