As vaping continues to be one of the more popular methods to consume both cannabis and tobacco products, more research has been conducted looking into the link between those who vape tobacco products and those who vape cannabis products.
A new study from researchers from the University of Alabama at Birmingham and the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor and published in JAMA Network Open suggest that adolescents who use e-cigarettes are three times more likely to use cannabis than those who don’t use e-cigarettes, with more than one in ten who said they had ever used cannabis going on to do so within one year.
Using data from the Population Assessment of Tobacco and Health (PATH) study, the new research shows between 2017 and 2019, those who reported vaping e-cigarettes were more likely to report cannabis usage one year later. Of the adolescents who reported not using cannabis at the beginning of the study, nearly 11 percent had reported cannabis use the next year, even those who had never used tobacco. Those who reported sing e-cigarettes were 3.2 times more likely to use cannabis and 2.9 percent more likely to report use within the past month. The study ruled out various factors such as socioeconomic status and other substance use.
“E-cigarette use among cannabis-naive adolescents was associated with an increased likelihood of both self-reported past 12-month and past 30-day cannabis use 1 year later,” the study reported.
Researchers said vaping e-cigarettes doesn’t make a significant difference in the overall population of adolescents who use cannabis, as some users can experiment with cannabis without becoming established users. The researchers also noted adolescents who vaped could also associate with those who engage in risky behaviors, possibly increasing the potential for cannabis use for those already using e-cigarettes.
A recent study from the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health and The City University of New York concluded that cannabis usage rates have increased across the country, and cannabis use has risen among American youth aged 12 and older who smoke cigarettes. Based on data from the 2004-2017 National Survey of Drug Use and Health, researchers found one in three daily cigarette smokers reported cannabis use within the past month compared to non-smokers, with 73 percent of adolescents aged 12-17 who smoke cigarettes reporting cannabis use in the past month.
Cannabis vaping has increasingly become a more popular method of consuming cannabis among all adolescents, with another study by the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health published in the journal Addiction finding the frequency of cannabis vaping by adolescents being reported at six times or more per month and rising faster than occasional use.
“Heavy and frequent use of cannabis is increasing among U.S. adolescents, and vaped systems for products for both cannabis and nicotine are growing in number so understanding the prevalence and patterns of frequent cannabis vaping is important public health information for prevention,” said Katherine Keyes, Ph.D., professor of epidemiology at Columbia Mailman School. “Given rising concerns about cannabis vaping in terms of safety and potential for transition to cannabis use disorder especially at frequent levels of use, these results indicate a necessity for public health intervention and increased regulation.”
According to Keyes, tobacco use, e-cigarette use and binge drinking are strongly linked to frequent cannabis use, both vaping and non-vaping, with the research indicating young adults who use nicotine, especially by way of vapes, are more likely to vape cannabis as well. Adolescents who reported smoking and vaping nicotine were 42 times more likely to report past 30-day cannabis use. The study found prevalence increased across grades, with the largest increase happening in high school seniors, where past 30-day use nearly tripled from five percent in 2017 to 14 percent in 2019.
