Dual-Vaping of Nicotine and Cannabis Among Adults Who Currently Use Tobacco Products in Five New England States.

INTRODUCTION

Current measures of vaping behaviors in the U.S. do not distinguish what substances participants are vaping and to what extent they are dual-vaping nicotine and cannabis. This study describes the use of new survey questions that more specifically ask whether participants who vape are vaping nicotine, cannabis, cannabidiol (CBD), or another substance.

AIMS AND

METHODS

Adults, who reported any past 30-day tobacco use, from five New England states participated in an online survey from April 2021 to July 2022. Participants who vaped were asked, "Have you used any of the following vape substances in the past 30 days?" with the possible responses of nicotine, cannabis, CBD, other, and "don't know." Dual use of both nicotine and cannabis was defined as the vaping of both nicotine and cannabis and/or CBD in the past 30 days, operationalized as a dichotomous outcome. Data were collected in monthly, repeated cross-sectional waves. Multinomial logistic regression was used to examine correlates of dual-vaping.

RESULTS

The analytic sample included 1547 adults who reported past 30-day tobacco use (mean age 42.9 years, 62.8% female, 85.4% White, 48.5% income of less than $50 000). Over one-quarter (26.1%) reported dual-vaping in the past 30 days. Identifying as male (p = .002) and self-rated anxiety (p = .043) were associated with a higher odds of dual-vaping.

CONCLUSIONS

Our findings show that a sizable proportion of a sample of New England adults who have used tobacco in the past 30 days are dual-vaping nicotine and cannabis. Adequate survey measures for assessing the vaping of multiple substances can help in better screening and characterization of health behaviors around dual-use.

IMPLICATIONS: This study addresses a key gap in adequate survey measures for assessing vaping of multiple substances. We found that among adults with past 30-day tobacco use, dual-vaping was prevalent and associated with different correlates, such as self-reported anxiety and education level, compared to sole-vaping of nicotine or cannabis. Our findings may help in characterizing and targeting future population-level surveillance and intervention efforts for multiple substance use behaviors.