High School Students’ Use of Electronic Cigarettes to Vaporize Cannabis

Introduction:
This text summarizes a research study examining the use of electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) to vaporize cannabis among high school students. The study provides important evidence on the rising trend of using e-cigarettes for vaporizing cannabis among teenagers. Readers will learn about the study design, key findings, and the implications of this trend.

Key Points:

* The study was conducted among 3847 high school students in Connecticut, using an anonymous survey.
* Rates of vaporizing cannabis using e-cigarettes were high among all students who had ever tried an e-cigarette (18.0%), among all students who had tried any form of cannabis (18.4%), and among the subsample of students who had experimented with the combination of e-cigarettes and cannabis (26.5%).
* Male students and younger students were more likely to use e-cigarettes to vaporize cannabis than their respective counterparts.
* The use of e-cigarettes to vaporize cannabis differed by school but was unrelated to SES.
* Students reported using e-cigarettes to vaporize hash oil (4.5%) and THC-infused wax (3.0%) and using portable vaporizers to vaporize dried cannabis leaves (6.7%).
* The study had several limitations, including self-reported data, cross-sectional design, and limited demographic predictors.
* Future research is needed to determine whether e-cigarette use may serve as a gateway to cannabis use, specifically via the use of e-cigarettes to vaporize cannabis.

Main Message:
The study highlights the pressing need to regulate the use of e-cigarettes, especially among teenagers. The trend of using e-cigarettes to vaporize cannabis is alarming, given the potential negative health outcomes and the difficulty in detecting and controlling its use. Policymakers, educators, and parents must take proactive steps to address this issue and protect the health and well-being of young people. The study underscores the importance of monitoring the rates of using e-cigarettes to vaporize cannabis and implementing effective prevention and intervention strategies to curb this trend.

Morean, Meghan E., Grace Kong, Deepa R. Camenga, Dana A. Cavallo, and Suchitra Krishnan-Sarin. “High School Students’ Use of Electronic Cigarettes to Vaporize Cannabis.” Pediatrics 136, no. 4 (October 1, 2015): 611–16. https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2015-1727.