State medical marijuana laws, cannabis use and cannabis use disorder among adults with elevated psychological distress

Abstract

Background.-Cannabis use and cannabis use disorder are more prevalent in U.S. states with medical marijuana laws (MMLs), as well as among individuals with elevated psychological distress. We investigated whether adults with moderate and serious psychological distress experienced greater levels of cannabis use and/or disorder in states with MMLs compared to states without MMLs.Methods.-National Survey of Drug Use and Health data (2013)(2014)(2015)(2016)(2017) were used to compare past-month cannabis use, daily cannabis use, and cannabis use disorder prevalence among adults with moderate and serious psychological distress in states with versus without MMLs. We executed pooled multivariable logistic regression analyses to test main effects of distress, MMLs and their interaction, after adjustment.Results.-Compared to states without MMLs, states with MMLs had higher adjusted prevalence of past-month use (11.1% vs. 6.8%), daily use (4.0% vs. 2.2%), and disorder (1.7% vs. 1.2%). Adults with moderate and serious psychological distress had greater adjusted odds of any use (AORs of 1.72 and 2.22, respectively) and of disorder (AORs of 2.17 and 2.94, respectively), compared to those with no/mild distress. We did not find evidence of an interaction between MMLs and distress category for any outcome.Conclusions.-Associations between elevated distress and cannabis use patterns are no greater in states with MML. However, cannabis use is more prevalent in MML states.

Medical cannabis: Roles, responsibilities, and challenges for clinical pharmacists

“…McBain and colleagues found that rates of cannabis use and CUD are higher for individuals reporting moderate or severe psychological distress as reported in the National Survey of Drug Use and Health. However, cannabis use and CUD were no different among individuals with moderate or high psychological distress in states with legal medical cannabis compared to states without 59 …”

“…However, cannabis use and CUD were no different among individuals with moderate or high psychological distress in states with legal medical cannabis compared to states without. 59…”

Disproportionate increase in cannabis use among individuals with serious psychological distress and association with psychiatric hospitalization and outpatient service use in the National Survey on Drug Use and Health 2009-2019

“…(37) In the present study, trends began to diverge in 2015, when only two states had legalized recreational cannabis, but 23 had legalized cannabis for medical use. (38) Prior research has shown higher rates of cannabis use in medical cannabis states and among individuals with SPD but no interaction between medical cannabis laws and SPD, (39) suggesting that the presence of medical cannabis laws alone do not fully explain this relationship. A recent study of recreational cannabis marketing in California found that high density of marketing promoting the health benefits of cannabis was associated with a 2-3x increased odds of cannabis use among adults exposed to health messaging.…”

Impacto de la legalización del consumo recreativo del cannabis

“…No parece haber una asociación entre la ansiedad elevada y los patrones de consumo de cannabis en los estados de EE.UU. con la marihuana legalizada para uso medicinal, siendo el consumo de cannabis más frecuente en estos estados (McBain et al, 2020).…”