Using data from the Population Assessment of Tobacco and Health (PATH) Study, the research team found that a large number of vapers also use their devices for marijuana.
Titled, “Evaluation of Self-reported Cannabis Vaping Among US Youth and Young Adults Who Use e-Cigarettes,” the study looked into cannabis vaping. Given that besides their use for vaping nicotine, vapes can also be used to vape cannabis products such as CBD oil, the research team aimed to identify the proportion of current e-cigarette users who vaped cannabis and their patterns of use, characterized by age and other sociodemographic variables.
Analysing data from the PATH Study of a total of 11 356 young adults aged 18 to 24 years and 11 976 adolescents aged 12 to 17, by analysing the categorical responses to the PATH Study survey question, “When you have used an electronic product, how often were you using it to smoke marijuana, marijuana concentrates, marijuana waxes, THC, or hash oils?,” they constructed a binary variable of cannabis vaping based on the answer “never” vs all other responses.
The compiled responses indicated that about 35% of adolescents aged 12 to 14 years, 51% of teens ages 15 to 17 years and 54% of young adults ages 18 to 24 years, reported vaping marijuana. “The prevalence of cannabis vaping among young people who reported current use of e-cigarettes was 35.0% (95% CI, 29.3%-41.2%) in participants aged 12 to 14 years, 51.3% (95% CI, 47.7%-54.9%) in those aged 15 to 17 years, and 54.6% (95% CI, 52.5%-56.7%) in young adults,” reported the researchers. “Our findings suggest that many adolescents and young adults who use e-cigarettes are vaping cannabis,” said study co-author Ruoyan Sun as quoted by UPI.
Diane Caruana – Vaping Post – 2022-09-19.