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 Researchers examined data from 21 previously published studies with
more than 128,000 participants ages 10 to 24. Overall, young people
who used e-cigarettes were 3.5 times more likely to use marijuana,
the analysis found.
Teen vapers were most at risk for marijuana use. Among adolescents
ages12 to 17, e-cigarette users were 4.3 times more likely to use
marijuana. Among young adults ages 18 to 24, vapers were 2.3 times
more likely to use marijuana.
"E-cigarettes are often considered benign or harmless by youth and
their families," said Dr. Nicholas Chadi, lead author of the study
and an assistant professor of pediatrics at
Sainte-Justine University Hospital at the University of Montreal in
Canada.
"What this study suggests is that e-cigarettes (most of which
contain nicotine) should be considered harmful, in a similar way as
other substances like alcohol and tobacco, which have also been
associated with increased marijuana use," Chadi said by email.
While teen smoking has long been linked to an increased risk of drug
use, U.S. adolescents today are more apt to try vaping than smoking
traditional cigarettes - and less is known about how e-cigarettes
impact future substance use.
Big tobacco companies are all developing e-cigarettes. The
battery-powered devices feature a glowing tip and a heating element
that turns liquid nicotine and other flavorings into a cloud of
vapor that users inhale.
The rise of vaping is problematic in part because most people with
substance use disorders develop these problems before they turn 18,
researchers note in JAMA Pediatrics. And adolescents whose brains
are still developing are more vulnerable than older adults to the
addictive properties of nicotine, alcohol, marijuana and other
drugs.
In the current analysis, the connection between vaping and marijuana
use was stronger for North American young people and for the past
two years than for earlier studies or research with participants in
Europe or other places.
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Vaping in combination with smoking traditional cigarettes was also
more strongly connected to marijuana use than vaping alone.
None of the smaller studies in the analysis were controlled
experiments, so they could not prove that vaping directly impacts
marijuana use. Researchers also didn't examine the health outcomes
associated with vaping.
Another limitation of the study is that researchers looked at all
marijuana use - whether it was trying a single joint one time at a
party ages ago or an ongoing daily habit - so it wasn't possible to
see how vaping might impact the frequency of marijuana use.
Even so, it's possible that experimenting with e-cigarettes might
make young people more curious about marijuana, reduce perceived
harm of marijuana use, and increase the social access to marijuana
from peers and friends, said Hongying Dai, a public health
researcher at the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha who
wasn't involved in the study.
"The brain is still in development during the teen years and is not
mature for young adults, nicotine exposure might lead to changes in
the central nervous system that predisposes teens and young adults
to dependence on other drugs of abuse," Dai said by email.
And, vaping might also lead to more dangerous substance use problems
than smoking traditional cigarettes, Dai added.
"One difference between e-cigarettes and traditional cigarettes is
that adolescents and young adults who experiment with e-cigarettes
may use the same device or switch to newer generation devices for
vaping marijuana, which could lead to use of substance with stronger
addictive effects," Dai said.
SOURCE: http://bit.ly/2TrJhHk JAMA Pediatrics, online August 12,
2019.
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