Cannabis Use among Dual Electronic and Combustible Cigarette Smokers: Relations with Pain and Hazardous Drinking.

Introduction:
This text provides a summary of a research study examining the relationship between cannabis use, pain, and hazardous drinking among dual users of electronic and combustible cigarettes. The study highlights the importance of pain as a factor in substance use and associated problems.

Key Points:

* The study included 414 adult dual users of electronic and combustible cigarettes, with half of them endorsing current cannabis use.
* Cannabis users reported more severe pain, greater pain interference, and more hazardous drinking compared to non-users.
* Cannabis use was robustly related to hazardous drinking, remaining significantly related to it even after accounting for pain severity, pain interference, and other factors.
* Cannabis use was indirectly related to hazardous drinking via pain interference at moderate to high levels of pain severity.
* Drinking to manage pain is related to more alcohol-related problems, and testing whether this observed pattern was due in part to drinking to manage pain is an important next step.
* Clinicians treating patients for smoking cessation may consider assessing for concurrent cannabis use, pain, and hazardous drinking.
* Cannabis using patients may especially benefit from adaptive strategies to manage pain, such as cognitive behavioral pain management techniques.

Main Message:
The study highlights the importance of considering pain as a factor in substance use and associated problems among dual users of electronic and combustible cigarettes. The findings suggest that cannabis use is associated with greater pain, pain-related impairment, and hazardous drinking, and that patients who report pain, especially the combination of more severe pain and pain-related impairment, may benefit from assessment and treatment for hazardous drinking. The results also indicate the need for further research to determine temporal sequencing of the relations between cannabis use, pain, and drinking among dual users, as well as the need to test whether results are specific to dual users or generalize to those that use only electronic or combustible cigarettes.

Buckner JD, Zvolensky MJ, Mayorga NA, Abarno CN, Hopper K, Garey L. Cannabis Use among Dual Electronic and Combustible Cigarette Smokers: Relations with Pain and Hazardous Drinking. Substance use & misuse. 2020;55(10):1677-1682. doi:10.1080/10826084.2020.1756852