Teen Vaping Associated With Cannabis and Binge Drink

According to a new study of over 50,000 US teens from around the country, teen vaping nicotine is substantially associated with an increased chance of binge drinking and cannabis use.

The findings, which were published today in Substance usage and Misuse, will add to mounting public health worries about the rising popularity of electronic cigarette (or “vaping”) usage among young people.

“While the overall health risks of vaping are lower than smoking, electronic cigarettes are still harmful to adolescents and warrant ongoing surveillance—especially as the long-term impacts remain unknown,” says lead author Noah Kreski from the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health.

“Our results indicate that vaping is not an isolated behavior, but rather strongly tied to other substance use that can harm adolescents and make quitting nicotine more difficult. Recognizing the strong overlap between various forms of substance use, effective intervention efforts should work to simultaneously address teen vaping, drinking and cannabis use to encourage the health and well-being of young people.”

The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) Monitoring the Future survey was used by the researchers to track trends in the use of cigarettes, alcohol, cannabis, teen vaping of both nicotine and cannabis, and other substances for children in school grades 8 (13-14 years old), 10 (15-16 years old), and 12 (17-18 years old).

The researchers analyzed data from 51,872 adolescents who participated in the study between 2017 and 2019. They looked examined the connections between past 30-day nicotine use (non-, smoking-only, vaping-only, and any smoking + vaping) and past 30-day cannabis use, adjusting for demographic characteristics such age, gender, race, parental education, and urbanicity.

as they looked at nicotine and cannabis usage (in any form, including vaping), they discovered that, as compared to those who did not use nicotine at all, teenagers who:

• They were 8.03 times more likely to use cannabis if they smoked
• They were 20.31 times more likely to use cannabis if they vaped
• Smokers and vapers were both 40.1 times more likely to consume cannabis

Even after adjusting for other factors, the researchers discovered a relationship between past 30-day nicotine usage and two-week binge drinking. The extent of the link between smoking and vaping and binge drinking increased with higher levels of binge drinking. For example, when compared to adolescents who did not use nicotine at all, those who smoked and vaped were:

• 5.6 times more likely to have binge drunk on a single occasion
• Binge drinking on three to five occasions is 21.60 times more likely
• Binge drinking is 36.53 times more likely to have occurred on ten or more occasions

“The links between vaping-only, or both smoking and vaping, and cannabis use and binge drinking outcomes in adolescents are particularly striking—especially at the highest levels of binge drinking. While the causal direction of these associations is unclear, the size of the effect is concerning given the harms these substances pose to adolescents,” adds Kreski, who is a data analyst at Columbia.

“Given the strong links between nicotine use and both cannabis use and binge drinking, there is a need for sustained interventions, advertising and promotion restrictions, and national public education efforts to reduce vaping in adolescents—efforts that acknowledge co-occurring substance use,” Kreski notes.

The authors point out some survey-related limitations of this study. These include the fact that the data was gathered from kids during the school day and did not include those who were absent. Participants’ self-reported nicotine vaping and smoking were similarly prone to measurement and recall bias.

Source Link