Citation

Rubenstein D, Aston ER, Nollen NL, Mayo MS, Brown AR, Ahluwalia JS. J. Addict. Med. 2020; ePub(ePub): ePub.

Affiliation

Center for Alcohol and Addiction Studies, Brown University School of Public Health, Providence, RI (DR, ERA, JSA); Department of Behavioral and Social Sciences, Brown University School of Public Health, Providence, RI (ERA, JSA); Department of Population Health, University of Kansas School of Medicine, Kansas City, KS (NLN); Department of Biostatistics & Data Science, University of Kansas School of Medicine, Kansas City, KS (MSM, ARB).

Copyright

(Copyright © 2020, American Society of Addiction Medicine, Publisher Lippincott Williams and Wilkins)

DOI

10.1097/ADM.0000000000000652

PMID

32187115

Abstract

OBJECTIVES: Cannabis and tobacco dual use is a growing concern in the United States, especially among African Americans (AAs). Dual use increases nicotine dependence and poses negative health effects. Despite decreasing numbers of people who smoke daily, nondaily smokers (NDS) are increasing. Polytobacco use, including blunt use, is higher in AA NDS than AAs who smoke daily. This study examined factors associated with cannabis use among AA NDS.

METHODS: Adult AA NDS participated in a randomized controlled trial (n = 278) for smoking cessation. A subset of this sample (n = 262; mean age 48.2 years; 50% male) was analyzed to identify correlates of cannabis use. Logistic regression assessed the associations of demographic, smoking-related, and psychosocial variables with cannabis use.

RESULTS: Participants smoked cigarettes on an average of 18 days of the last 30 and used 4.5 cigarettes on smoking days. Of the participants analyzed, 38% used cannabis, including blunts (ie, cigars hollowed out filled with cannabis) at baseline. Cannabis use was associated with polytobacco product use not including blunts (odds ratio [OR] 2.11, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.18-3.77, P = 0.012), depressive symptoms (OR 1.22, 95% CI 1.05-1.42, P = 0.011), and younger age (OR 0.97, 95% CI 0.94-0.99, P = 0.004).

CONCLUSIONS: Rates of cannabis and tobacco dual use in our sample exceed national rates. Dual use poses harmful health effects that exceed the risk of either substance alone.

FINDINGS will inform future work in tailoring treatments to vulnerable groups of people who use both tobacco and cannabis.

Language: en