Risk factors of emerging adults reporting concurrent use of e-cigarettes with THC/cannabis

Objective: Examine the prevalence of concurrent cannabis/THC vaping among those transitioning from high school to college who had ever used e-cigarettes and identify sociodemographic and personal factors associated with risk of cannabis/THC vaping among students in this population. Participants: Incoming undergraduate students reporting ever using e-cigarettes (N = 529) attending a public university in the southeastern United States. Methods: Cross-sectional survey administered November 2018. Comparisons of sociodemographic and personal characteristics between those who had vaped cannabis/THC and those who had not were done using chi-square test of association, or Fisher’s exact test or the two-sample t-test. Predictors of cannabis/THC vaping status were determined using logistic regression. Results: Slightly more than a quarter had ever vaped cannabis/THC (26%). Of those who had ever vaped with cannabis/THC, most said they used cannabis/THC “sometimes” when they vaped (78%). The significant predictors of cannabis/THC vaping status included membership or planned membership in a fraternity or sorority, ever use of alcohol, level of stress, number of five closest friends who currently use marijuana, and whether family member(s) use marijuana. Discussion: Collaborative tailored prevention and treatment efforts are needed on college campuses to curb vaping/use of cannabis and resulting polysubstance use.