Nearly 1 in 11 U.S. middle and high school students have used a cannabis product in an e-cigarette, according to a school-based survey of 20,675 students.
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The survey found that 8.9% of students in grades 6-12 said they had used an e-cigarette with marijuana, tetrahydrocannabinol or hash oil, or tetrahydrocannabinol wax. Among the students who reported ever using e-cigarettes, 30.6% had used a cannabis product in the device. The findings were published in JAMA Pediatrics.
This translated to around 1.7 million high school students and 425,000 middle school students who had ever used cannabis in e-cigarettes; figures the authors said were consistent with or higher than previous reports among U.S. and Canadian students.
Katrina F. Trivers, PhD, and her colleagues from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, noted that the U.S. Surgeon General has found e-cigarette aerosol can contain potentially harmful ingredients. Additionally, the National Academies of Sciences has said youth cannabis use can harm learning and memory.
“Strategies to reduce cannabis use in e-cigarettes are critical for protecting young people from these potential health risks,” the researchers wrote.
Male students and high school students were significantly more likely to report using cannabis products in an e-cigarette (10.6% and 12.4%, respectively), compared with female or middle school students.
Among current users of e-cigarettes, 39.5% reported using cannabis in the e-cigarette, while among those who used other tobacco products, 38.5% used cannabis in e-cigarettes. Higher e-cigarette use was also associated with use of cannabis products in e-cigarettes.