Cannabis vaping doubled among U.S. adults from 2017 to 2019, with the biggest jump in young adults | Research

The takeaway

Cannabis vaping prevalence doubled from 1.0% to 2.0% among U.S. adults between 2017 and 2019, with the sharpest increase (1.2% to 3.9%) among 18-24 year olds.

Public health professionals, young adults who vape cannabis, substance use researchers

Cannabis vaping tripled among young adults from 1.2% to 3.9% in two years

What the researchers found

Cannabis vaping doubled nationally from 1.0% to 2.0% between 2017 and 2019, with the largest increase among young adults (1.2% to 3.9%). Cannabis vaping was associated with heavy alcohol use (aOR 1.95), binge drinking (aOR 2.82), and other high-risk behaviors (aOR 2.47) but not with asthma or respiratory symptoms.

Why it matters

The rapid increase in cannabis vaping, especially among young adults, coincided with the EVALI outbreak and raises ongoing questions about the health effects of this relatively new consumption method.

The numbers in context

160,209 participants; past-30-day cannabis use rose from 10.0% to 13.4%; cannabis vaping from 1.0% to 2.0%; young adults 1.2% to 3.9%; aOR 2.82 for binge drinking; no association with asthma (aOR 1.03)

How the study worked

Analysis of 2017-2019 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System data (160,209 participants) examining prevalence, trends, and associations of cannabis vaping with health behaviors and respiratory conditions.

What this study cannot tell us

Cross-sectional design prevents causal inference, self-reported substance use, BRFSS data limited to states that included cannabis questions, 2017-2019 period predates further market changes.

How to read the evidence

Large nationally representative survey with over 160,000 participants across three years

When this study was published

Published in 2021 using 2017-2019 data. Cannabis vaping trends may have shifted further since then.

The bigger picture

The co-occurrence of cannabis vaping with other high-risk behaviors suggests that interventions targeting one behavior in isolation may miss the broader pattern of risk-taking in this population.

Questions still open

Has cannabis vaping continued to increase after 2019? Did the EVALI outbreak slow the trend? Are the high-risk behavior associations causal or do they reflect a shared tendency toward risk-taking?

Common questions

How common is cannabis vaping?

Past-30-day cannabis vaping prevalence doubled from 1.0% to 2.0% among U.S. adults between 2017 and 2019. Among young adults aged 18-24, it tripled from 1.2% to 3.9%.

Is cannabis vaping linked to lung problems?

In this large study, cannabis vaping was not associated with asthma or other respiratory symptoms after adjusting for demographics. However, it was strongly associated with heavy alcohol use and other high-risk behaviors.

Read the original research

Cannabis vaping among adults in the United States: Prevalence, trends, and association with high-risk behaviors and adverse respiratory conditions.

Preventive medicine, 153, 106800

View on PubMed ↗Publisher’s paper ↗

Citation

Boakye, Ellen; Obisesan, Olufunmilayo H; Uddin, S M Iftekhar; El-Shahawy, Omar; Dzaye, Omar; Osei, Albert D; Benjamin, Emelia J; Stokes, Andrew C; Robertson, Rose Marie; Bhatnagar, Aruni; Blaha, Michael J. (2021). Cannabis vaping among adults in the United States: Prevalence, trends, and association with high-risk behaviors and adverse respiratory conditions.. Preventive medicine, 153, 106800. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ypmed.2021.106800