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Marijuana practices and patterns of use among young adult medical marijuana patients and non-patient marijuana users
Journal article   Open access   Peer reviewed

Marijuana practices and patterns of use among young adult medical marijuana patients and non-patient marijuana users

Stephen E. Lankenau, Ekaterina V. Fedorova, Megan Reed, Sheree M. Schrager, Ellen Iverson and Carolyn F. Wong
Drug and alcohol dependence, v 170, pp 181-188
01 Jan 2017
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2016.10.025
PMID: 27987475
Featured in Collection :   UN Sustainable Development Goals @ Drexel
url
https://europepmc.org/articles/pmc6540119View
Accepted (AM),  Open

Abstract

Drug use Medical marijuana Young adults
•Non-patient marijuana users (NPU) report using marijuana diverted from dispensaries.•Young adult medical marijuana patients (MMP) use more marijuana than young NPU.•Over half of sample report current use of concentrates, e.g., oil, dab, wax.•Vaporization of concentrates and marijuana was more common among MMP than NPU.•Trend toward less current misuse of prescription drugs among MMP compared to NPU. Little is known about young adult medical marijuana patients (MMP) and their marijuana using patterns and practices, which includes frequency of use, sourcing of marijuana products, forms/modes of administration, and patterns of illicit/prescription drug misuse, compared to non-patient marijuana users (NPU). Young adults (N=366) aged 18–26 years old were sampled in Los Angeles in 2014–15 and segmented into NPU (n=156), marijuana users who never had a medical marijuana (MM) recommendation, and MMP (n=210), marijuana users with a current, verified MM recommendation. Differences regarding self-reported marijuana and other drug use during the past 90days are expressed as unadjusted risk ratios or differences in means. MMP reported significantly greater mean days of use (76.4 vs. 59.2, p<0.001) and mean dollars spent on marijuana products (564.5 vs. 266.9, p<0.001) than NPU. Approximately one-quarter (22.6%) of both MMP and NPU report selling marijuana obtained from a dispensary to someone else in the past 90days. MMP were more likely to report vaporization modalities for concentrates (URR=1.5, 95% C.I.=1.2, 2.0) and for marijuana (URR=1.5, 95% C.I.=1.1, 2.1) than NPU. Though not significant, trends toward lower misuse of prescription drugs in the past 90days were observed among MMP compared to NPU. MMP reported greater access to marijuana via dispensaries, more frequent and intensive use of marijuana, and greater use of non-combustible forms of marijuana compared to NPU. MMP reported less recent misuse of prescription drugs compared to NPU.

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63 citations in Web of Science
59 citations in Scopus

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UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

This publication has contributed to the advancement of the following goals:

#3 Good Health and Well-Being

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Collaboration types
Domestic collaboration
Web of Science research areas
Psychiatry
Substance Abuse
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