Over a quarter of New England tobacco users who vape are vaping both nicotine and cannabis

Among 1,547 adults in New England who used tobacco in the past month, 26.1% reported vaping both nicotine and cannabis, with male sex and self-rated anxiety linked to higher odds of dual-vaping.

RTHC-05485Cross Sectional surveyModerate2024RETHINKTHC RESEARCH DATABASErethinkthc.com/research

Quick Facts

Study Type
Cross-sectional survey
Evidence
Moderate
Sample
N=1,547

What This Study Found

26.1% of past-month tobacco users who vaped reported dual-vaping both nicotine and cannabis/CBD in the past 30 days. Male sex and self-rated anxiety were associated with higher odds of dual-vaping.

Key Numbers

1,547 adults surveyed. 26.1% dual-vaped nicotine and cannabis. Mean age 42.9 years, 62.8% female, 85.4% White. Male sex (p = .002) and anxiety (p = .043) associated with dual-vaping.

How They Did This

Online survey of 1,547 adults with past 30-day tobacco use across five New England states, collected in monthly cross-sectional waves from April 2021 to July 2022. Used new survey questions distinguishing vaping substances and multinomial logistic regression for analysis.

Why This Research Matters

Standard vaping surveys often fail to ask what substance is being vaped. This study shows that when researchers ask specifically, a surprisingly large share of vapers are using both nicotine and cannabis, which has implications for health screening and treatment.

The Bigger Picture

Vaping is often treated as a single behavior, but the substances people vape matter enormously for health risk assessment. The prevalence of dual-vaping suggests clinical intake questions need to be more specific about what patients are inhaling.

What This Study Doesn't Tell Us

Limited to New England tobacco users, so prevalence may not generalize nationally. Self-reported data. Cross-sectional design cannot establish whether anxiety drives dual-vaping or vice versa.

Questions This Raises

  • ?Are dual-vapers at greater health risk than single-substance vapers?
  • ?Would better screening questions in clinical settings change treatment approaches for these patients?

Trust & Context

Key Stat:
26.1% of tobacco-using vapers dual-vaped nicotine and cannabis
Evidence Grade:
Multi-state survey with improved substance-specific questions, but cross-sectional and limited to tobacco users.
Study Age:
2024 study with data from April 2021 to July 2022.
Original Title:
Dual-Vaping of Nicotine and Cannabis Among Adults Who Currently Use Tobacco Products in Five New England States.
Published In:
Nicotine & tobacco research : official journal of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco, 26(9), 1253-1258 (2024)
Database ID:
RTHC-05485

Evidence Hierarchy

Meta-Analysis / Systematic Review
Randomized Controlled Trial
Cohort / Case-Control
Cross-Sectional / ObservationalSnapshot without intervening
This study
Case Report / Animal Study
What do these levels mean? →

Frequently Asked Questions

How common is dual-vaping nicotine and cannabis?

Among New England adults who used tobacco in the past month, 26.1% reported vaping both nicotine and cannabis or CBD.

Who was more likely to dual-vape?

Males and people with self-rated anxiety had higher odds of dual-vaping compared to vaping nicotine or cannabis alone.

Read More on RethinkTHC

Cite This Study

RTHC-05485·https://rethinkthc.com/research/RTHC-05485

APA

Liu, Jessica; Hanby, Elaine; Kingsley, Melody; Winickoff, Jonathan P; Gundersen, Daniel A; Tan, Andy S L. (2024). Dual-Vaping of Nicotine and Cannabis Among Adults Who Currently Use Tobacco Products in Five New England States.. Nicotine & tobacco research : official journal of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco, 26(9), 1253-1258. https://doi.org/10.1093/ntr/ntae062

MLA

Liu, Jessica, et al. "Dual-Vaping of Nicotine and Cannabis Among Adults Who Currently Use Tobacco Products in Five New England States.." Nicotine & tobacco research : official journal of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco, 2024. https://doi.org/10.1093/ntr/ntae062

RethinkTHC

RethinkTHC Research Database. "Dual-Vaping of Nicotine and Cannabis Among Adults Who Curren..." RTHC-05485. Retrieved from https://rethinkthc.com/research/liu-2024-dualvaping-of-nicotine-and

Access the Original Study

Study data sourced from PubMed, a service of the U.S. National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health.

This study breakdown was produced by the RethinkTHC research team. We analyze and report published research findings without making health recommendations. All interpretations are based solely on the published abstract and study data.