The Use of Substances Other Than Nicotine in Electronic Cigarettes Among College Students

Abstract

Introduction:Electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) have grown in popularity, especially among youth and young adults. Although e-cigarettes were originally intended to vaporize a liquid mixture containing nicotine, there appears to be an increasing trend in other substance use in e-cigarettes (OSUE).Materials and methods:Cross-sectional data from 1542 undergraduate college student e-cigarette users from a large Midwestern university were collected via online survey to assess prevalence of e-cigarette use, reasons for use, perceived harm, and prevalence and predictors of OSUE.Results:Nearly 7% (6.94%) reported using an e-cigarette to vaporize and inhale a substance other than nicotine. Current tobacco cigarette smokers were significantly more likely to report OSUE (51.0%) as compared with never (33.7%) and former (15.4%) smokers. Among respondents reporting OSUE, the primary reason for e-cigarette use was “safer than cigarettes” (21.7%), followed by “experimentation” (18.9%) and “friends use” (17.0%). Most (77.9%) reported using cannabis or some derivative of cannabis in an e-cigarette. Binomial logistic regression found that women were less likely to report OSUE by a factor of 0.60, former tobacco cigarette smokers as compared with never smokers were more likely to report OSUE by a factor of 1.87, and e-cigarette users who reported using e-cigarettes for “cool or trendy” reasons were more likely to report OSUE by a factor of 2.89.Discussion:Little is known regarding the health effects of cannabis and cannabis derivatives delivered through e-cigarettes. Concern may also be warranted regarding the potential dangers of this young population using substances more dangerous than cannabis in e-cigarettes. Knowledge is limited regarding the public health impact of vaping cannabis or other illicit substances among college student populations. This study stresses the need for continued research regarding the vaping of cannabis and other illicit substances among college students.

The association between alcohol, marijuana, illegal drug use and current use of E-cigarette among youth and young adults in Canada: results from Canadian Tobacco, Alcohol and Drugs Survey 2017

“…The present study also showed that marijuana users were significantly more likely to be past 30-day e-cigarette users, compared to non-users. Some studies suggest that vaping of cannabis extracts is becoming more common among marijuana users [19,35,36] due to its perception of being less harmful than the traditional burning to smoke methods [4], being easier to disguise due to reduced odours [35], and stimulating less throat irritation upon smoking [37]. Additionally, it is important to note that the current study utilizes results from a survey conducted in 2017, when cannabis was still considered an illegal substance in Canada.…”

“…Additionally, e-cigarettes have been associated with a decline in overall health, including lung tissue damage, worse cardiovascular health outcomes and increased inflammatory responses [10][11][12]. Although none in Canada, some international studies have also shown positive associations between risky behaviors such as the use of illicit drugs, marijuana, alcohol and e-cigarette use [13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22]. Consequently, increased concerns have arisen among substance use researchers since recent e-cigarette designs have grown to accommodate illicit substances.…”

Female rats self-administer heroin by vapor inhalation

“…Inhalation of opioids is typically achieved by heating the drug over a surface, often tin foil, and inhaling the resulting vapors (Jenkins et al, 1994;Strang et al, 1997). Recently, however, there have been reports of ENDS usage (vaping) for administering illicit substances, including opioid drugs (Kenne et al, 2017;Blundell et al, 2018;Breitbarth et al, 2018). The current popularity and acceptability of vaping, the covert and easily concealed designs of newer vaping devices, and the myriad flavorant options, which can potentially mask public use, make this latter method especially concerning.…”

Effects of a Nicotine Fact Sheet on Perceived Risk of Nicotine and E-Cigarettes and Intentions to Seek Information About and Use E-Cigarettes

“…Thus, it seems likely that the connection between nicotine and e-cigarettes was not a very close one and the changing perceptions of harm of nicotine might not translate into lower perceived harm of e-cigarettes. Indeed, while e-cigarettes were originally designed to deliver nicotine, they are now frequently used with other substances, such as a cannabis derivative, tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), particularly by young people [30][31][32]. THC-containing e-cigarettes recently received heavy media attention due to the outbreak of nationwide e-cigarettes-related lung injury in the U.S.…”