Prevalence and Sociodemographic Correlates of Adolescent Use and Polyuse of Combustible, Vaporized, and Edible Cannabis Products

Abstract

Key Points Question What are the prevalence, patterns, and correlates of use and polyuse of combustible, edible, and vaporized cannabis products among adolescents? Findings In a 2015 cross-sectional survey study of 3177 adolescents, ever use of edible (21.3%) or vaporized (10.5%) cannabis was appreciable, and most ever users of cannabis (61.7%) used at least 2 products. Current use was higher in boys than girls for vaporized (6.1% vs 3.0%) but not for combustible (13.8% vs 13.1%) or edible (8.4% vs 7.3%) cannabis. Meaning Health professionals should be aware that youth might use a diverse spectrum of combustible and alternative cannabis products.

Trends of poly-substance use among Canadian youth

“…However, concerns regarding the impact of cannabis legalization on poly-substance use remain. This is because there may be a positive feedback loop between e-cigarette and cannabis use, partially due to cannabis vaping (which may increase following legalization) ( Borodovsky et al, 2017 ; Borodovsky, Crosier, Lee, Sargent, & Budney, 2016 ; Schlienz & Lee, 2018 ), and partially because each behaviour has been shown to be a risk factor for the other ( Audrain-McGovern, Stone, Barrington-Trimis, Unger, & Leventhal, 2018 ; Dai, Catley, Richter, Goggin, & Ellerbeck, 2018 ; Giroud et al, 2015 ; Peters, Bae, Barrington-Trimis, Jarvis, & Leventhal, 2018 ). Also, higher vaping prevalence has been shown to be associated with time elapsed since legalization ( Borodovsky et al, 2017 ), suggesting that prevention and intervention activities targeted to mitigating associated risks of poly-use will be required long-term.…”

Characterizing the predictive validity of measures of susceptibility to future use of combustible, vaporized and edible cannabis products in adolescent never‐users

“…At the Spring 10th grade survey, separate five‐item sets were used to assess susceptibility to each of three cannabis products [:15] (a) combustible cannabis, ‘smoking marijuana (pot, weed, hash, reefer or bud)’, (b) edible cannabis, ‘marijuana or tetrahydrocannabinol [THC] food or drinks (pot brownies, edibles, butter, oil)’ and (c) vaporized cannabis, ‘electronic device to vape liquid THC or hash oil (liquid pot, dabbing, weed pen)’. Items were derived from tobacco use susceptibility items that have demonstrated adequate psychometric properties in previous studies of high school students [18,19] and assess five different aspects of cannabis use susceptibility: (1) willingness to use—‘Would you try [product] if one of your best friends offered it to you?’; (2) intention to use—‘Do you think you would use [product] in the next 6 months?’; (3) curiosity—‘Are you curious about using [product]?’; (4) anticipated pleasurable effects of use—‘I think I might enjoy, experience pleasure, or feel good using [product]’; and (5) anticipated aversive effects of use—‘I think I might feel bad, sick, or embarrassed using [product]’.…”

“…≤ 8th grade, some high school, high school graduate, some college, college graduate, graduate degree) and eligibility for free or reduced lunch (designated for students of families with incomes ≤ 185% the US poverty line). As in previous work [15], we defined high family socio‐economic status (SES) as having met both of the following conditions: (a) parental education equal or higher than some college degree and (b) ineligible for free or reduced lunch (family income > 185% poverty line).…”

“…In the current study, we use data from a prospective cohort of adolescents in the Los Angeles metropolitan area to provide the first characterization of the susceptibility to initiation construct among combustible, edible and vaporized cannabis products in never cannabis users. Given evidence that socio‐demographic differences in use are non‐equivalent among different types of cannabis products [15,16], we additionally examine whether differences in susceptibility to each cannabis product differ by socio‐demographic characteristics, findings of which are relevant to inform targeted population‐specific prevention efforts. Finally, we examine the association of susceptibility indices with subsequent initiation of cannabis use across each product (combustible, edible and vaporized) over 24 months of follow‐up.…”

Urinary Acrylonitrile Metabolite Concentrations Before and after Smoked, Vaporized, and Oral Cannabis in Frequent and Occasional Cannabis Users

“…Daily marijuana use in the 19–28 age group increased from 5.0% in 2006 to 7.8% in 2017 and for those age 35 from 1.9% in 2006 to 5.1% in 2017 [ 3 ]. Even though edibles and vaping are substantial routes of use by adolescents, smoking is still the most frequent means of consuming cannabis [ 4 , 5 , 6 ]. With legalization, adults and adolescents increasingly view cannabis consumption as harmless [ 7 , 8 ].…”