Sure sounds scary! A public health concern? The U.S., a nation of young junkies?
However, only about 35% of those users seem to be regular and frequent users. This translates into about 4.8% of all surveyed students. This is still a high number, but as much as roughly 30% might be for medicial purposes.
This is about self reported! How honest were the respondents or were a significant number just bragging? Did the respondents know exactly they were using cannabis? How fashionable or en vogue is cannabis use among teenagers?
The survey did apparently not carefully distinguish between e.g. one time and habitual use of cannabis. Teenagers tend to be curious and try many things!
Then, there is the issue of medical use of cannabis. The survey is silent on this critical subject! What an omission! Very amateurish for the American Medical Association! The medical use could be as high as 27% or perhaps even higher (Source).
"~11% of U.S. high school seniors have used Delta 8 THC—a quasi-legal psychoactive version of cannabis—per a new survey in JAMA; a legal loophole allows the products to be sold online, at gas stations and smoke shops, and in many states where traditional marijuana is fully illegal—with no federal minimum age to purchase."
From the key points and abstract:
"Key Points
Question What is the prevalence of self-reported Δ8-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and marijuana use among 12th-grade students in the US and its distribution across sociodemographic factors and state cannabis policies?
Findings
In this nationally representative 2023 survey, 11.4% of 2186 US 12th-grade students self-reported Δ8-THC use and 30.4% self-reported marijuana use in the past year. Δ8-THC use prevalence was higher in the South and Midwest US and in states without legal adult-use marijuana or Δ8-THC regulations. Marijuana use prevalence did not differ by cannabis policies.
Meaning
Δ8-THC use prevalence is appreciable among US adolescents and is a potential public health concern.
Abstract
Importance
Gummies, flavored vaping devices, and other cannabis products containing psychoactive hemp-derived Δ8-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) are increasingly marketed in the US with claims of being federally legal and comparable to marijuana. National data on prevalence and correlates of Δ8-THC use and comparisons to marijuana use among adolescents in the US are lacking.
Objective
To estimate the self-reported prevalence of and sociodemographic and policy factors associated with Δ8-THC and marijuana use among US adolescents in the past 12 months.
Design, Setting, and Participants
This nationally representative cross-sectional analysis included a randomly selected subset of 12th-grade students in 27 US states who participated in the Monitoring the Future Study in-school survey during February to June 2023.
Exposures
Self-reported sex, race, ethnicity, and parental education; census region; state-level adult-use (ie, recreational) marijuana legalization (yes vs no); and state-level Δ8-THC policies (regulated vs not regulated).
Main Outcomes and Measures
The primary outcome was self-reported Δ8-THC and marijuana use in the past 12 months (any vs no use and number of occasions used).
Results
In the sample of 2186 12th-grade students (mean age, 17.7 years; 1054 [48.9% weighted] were female; 232 [11.1%] were Black, 411 [23.5%] were Hispanic, 1113 [46.1%] were White, and 328 [14.2%] were multiracial), prevalence of self-reported use in the past 12 months was 11.4% (95% CI, 8.6%-14.2%) for Δ8-THC and 30.4% (95% CI, 26.5%-34.4%) for marijuana. Of those 295 participants reporting Δ8-THC use, 35.4% used it at least 10 times in the past 12 months. Prevalence of Δ8-THC use was lower in Western vs Southern census regions (5.0% vs 14.3%; risk difference [RD], −9.4% [95% CI, −15.2% to −3.5%]; adjusted risk ratio [aRR], 0.35 [95% CI, 0.16-0.77]), states in which Δ8-THC was regulated vs not regulated (5.7% vs 14.4%; RD, −8.6% [95% CI, −12.9% to −4.4%]; aRR, 0.42 [95% CI, 0.23-0.74]), and states with vs without legal adult-use marijuana (8.0% vs 14.0%; RD, −6.0% [95% CI, −10.8% to −1.2%]; aRR, 0.56 [95% CI, 0.35-0.91]). Use in the past 12 months was lower among Hispanic than White participants for Δ8-THC (7.3% vs 14.4%; RD, −7.2% [95% CI, −12.2% to −2.1%]; aRR, 0.54 [95% CI, 0.34-0.87]) and marijuana (24.5% vs 33.0%; RD, −8.5% [95% CI, −14.9% to −2.1%]; aRR, 0.74 [95% CI, 0.59-0.94]). Δ8-THC and marijuana use prevalence did not differ by sex or parental education.
Conclusions and Relevance Δ8-THC use prevalence is appreciable among US adolescents and is higher in states without marijuana legalization or existing Δ8-THC regulations. Prioritizing surveillance, policy, and public health efforts addressing adolescent Δ8-THC use may be warranted."
No comments:
Post a Comment