Youth’s Proximity to Marijuana Retailers and Advertisements: Factors Associated with Washington State Adolescents’ Intentions to Use Marijuana

Abstract

The current study explored the influences of advertising exposure, numbers of marijuana retailers, distance to retailers, and constructs from the integrative model of behavioral prediction, including outcome beliefs, perceived norms, and efficacy, on youth's intentions to use marijuana in a state in which the use of recreational marijuana is legal. A statewide online cross-sectional survey of 350 adolescents ages 13-17, residing in Washington state, was conducted in June 2018. The results of the regression analysis suggest that exposure to marijuana advertising, positive and negative outcome beliefs, and perceived peer norms were associated with intention to use marijuana. Distances to retailers moderated the relationships between exposure to advertising and intentions, as well as between positive outcome beliefs and intentions. States that have legalized recreational marijuana should continue considering the location of retailers in relation to neighborhoods and advertising regulations to reduce the appeal to youth. Additionally, prevention efforts could aim to influence outcome beliefs and norms in an attempt to reduce adolescents' intentions to use recreational marijuana.

Associations of recreational cannabis dispensaries’ availability, storefront signage and health benefit signs with cannabis use: findings from a representative adult sample in California, United States

“…First, most studies assessed data at aggregate level (zip-code, city, county, etc. ), because detailed addresses of individuals were often unavailable [7,[12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][22][23][24][25]. Such studies were unable to control for heterogeneities among individuals or account for the fact that dispensaries located in close proximity have larger impacts than dispensaries located further away.…”

“…Fifthly, cannabis marketing in previous research was measured by self-reported exposures [8,23,40,[44][45][46][47], with one exception [21].…”

“…Secondly, almost all the individual‐level studies used convenience samples, except for some school‐based ones [9–11, 21, 23]. We recruited a probability‐based sample that was representative of adults in California, the state with the longest history of medical cannabis legalization and currently the largest cannabis retail market in the United States.…”

“…Fifthly, cannabis marketing in previous research was measured by self‐reported exposures [8, 23, 40, 44–47], with one exception [21]. We used a validated auditing instrument to objectively audit all the RCDs in California, which addressed limitations in self‐reporting such as recall and selection bias [48, 49].…”

Population and Neighborhood Correlates of Cannabis Dispensary Locations in Oklahoma

“…Cannabis dispensary density has been associated with several health and safety outcomes in previous work (Boggess et al 2014;Everson et al 2019;Hust et al 2020;Liang and Shi, 2019;Shi et al 2018). Studies show greater density and availability of medical cannabis dispensaries and recreational stores in areas with lower household incomes (Morrison et al, 2014l Shi et al, 2016, greater percent of racial/ethnic minorities (Hughes et al 2020;Shi et al, 2016;Thomas and Freisthler, 2016a), and greater overall area deprivation (e.g., lower percent owner-occupied housing, higher percent living below poverty level, etc.)…”