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(Reuters Health) – Teens who try marijuana do not smoke it. Many of them are also vaping or eating cannabis, according to a US study.
Nearly one in three teens smoked cannabis at least once, according to a survey of 3,177 high school students in Los Angeles. More than one in five teenagers have consumed edible cannabis, and more than one in 10 has already taken it.
In the Grade 10 study, two-thirds of adolescent cannabis users tried at least two forms of the drug and about 8% tried all three methods of cannabis use.
"This raises the question of whether adolescents who have traditionally been less at risk of using cannabis and other drugs in traditional smoked forms could be involved in cannabis in alternative forms that may not include some of the deterrents. . . like the smell, taste and hardness of inhaling cannabis smoke and the difficulty in concealing the use of smoked cannabis to authority figures, "said Adam Leventhal, lead author of the study, director from the Laboratory of Health, Emotion and Addiction at the University of Southern California, Los Angeles.
Cannabis use during adolescence has been linked to deficits in learning and memory, as well as to an alteration of academic results in previous research. Vaping has also been linked to respiratory problems as well as to damage to the heart and blood vessels.
Although edible forms of cannabis have been around for decades, these products are now more widely available and acceptable to many teens, since a growing number of US states have legalized marijuana for medical and recreational purposes.
At the same time, the increased availability of e-cigarettes heating cannabis has also become more common, as are cannabinoid-infused electronic cigarette liquids in youth-flavored products such as bubble gum and marketing campaigns that are likely to become commonplace. attract teens, noted researchers in the JAMA Network Open.
In this study, researchers surveyed students in 10 high schools in Los Angeles in 2015 about their use of cannabis in their lifetime and in previous months.
In the previous month, about 13% of participants had smoked cannabis, 8% had eaten it and 5% had sprayed it.
According to the analysis, it was about four times more likely that students smoke cannabis than having eaten it, and nearly two and a half times more likely to have eaten it than to have eaten.
Boys were more likely than girls to report having used cannabis, but there was no significant difference between the sexes in terms of smoking or drug use.
Low-income students were more likely to smoke or consume cannabis than their richer counterparts, but there was no significant income-based difference for vaping.
The study was not designed to prove whether specific demographic factors could directly affect the choice of adolescents to use cannabis, or the forms of the drug they tried.
The investigations were also conducted prior to California's legalization of cannabis sales for recreational purposes, the authors note.
Nevertheless, the legalization of marijuana probably sends the wrong message to parents and teens, said Dr. Ellen Rome, head of the Cleveland Clinic Children's Center for Adolescent Medicine in Ohio.
"Legalization normalizes use with an illusion of security for adults and children," said Rome, who was not involved in the study, by e-mail. "Legal for adults means" acceptable to use now "for the average marijuana consumer."
Parents should make sure that teens understand the very real health risks associated with cannabis use during a period of life when their bodies and brains are still developing, said Rome. This is especially true when teenagers are smoking cannabis.
"Vaping has been touted as the way to deliver nicotine or other substances while decreasing the toxins associated with smoke inhalation," said Rome.
"Unfortunately, the flavors used in vaping can cause small irreversible damage to the airways, a fact (which few still appreciate) adolescent users who do not yet have an abstract thought or the ability to foresee the consequences," added Rome. "This lack of abstract thinking also causes teens to not worry about the risk of cancer when they smoke cigarettes, marijuana or any other potential toxin."
SOURCE: bit.ly/2Qppup9 JAMA Network Open, posted September 28, 2018.
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