PISCATAWAY, N.J., April 8, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Adolescents who
frequently see billboard or storefront advertisements for
recreational cannabis are more likely to use the drug weekly and to
have symptoms of a cannabis use disorder, according to a new study
in the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs.
Despite use being illegal for those below age 21 even in states
that have approved recreational marijuana, "legalization may alter
the ways that youth use cannabis," write the study authors, led by
Pamela J. Trangenstein, Ph.D.,
M.P.H., of the University of North Carolina at
Chapel Hill.
An increasing number of states have legalized recreational
marijuana, and public concern over the risks of cannabis use has
declined in recent years, Trangenstein and colleagues note.
However, research continues to find cannabis use associated with
negative outcomes, including neuropsychiatric conditions,
automobile crashes and substance use disorders.
And marijuana use among teens may be more problematic than in
adults. "[C]annabinoid receptors are crucial for brain development,
which is why cannabis use during adolescence carries special risk,"
the authors write.
To conduct their research, the investigators used ads on
social media sites and apps to recruit 172 teens, ages 15 to 19,
who lived in states with legal recreational marijuana and who had
used the drug at least once.
Participants answered questions about their use of marijuana and
their exposure to its marketing. The latter included seeing
advertisements on billboards and storefronts as well as Instagram
and Facebook, if they owned or were likely to buy cannabis-branded
merchandise (e.g., hats, sunglasses or t-shirts with cannabis logos
or other images) and if they reported having a favorite brand or
strain of cannabis or related paraphernalia.
Compared with those who never saw billboard or storefront ads,
those who said they saw them "most of the time" or "always" had
seven times the odds of frequent cannabis use and nearly six times
the odds of having symptoms of cannabis use disorder. Having a
favorite brand was linked to three times the odds of frequent use
and symptoms of cannabis use disorder compared with those who did
not have a preferred brand.
Further, those who owned or were likely to own cannabis-branded
merchandise had 23 times the odds of frequent use as those who did
not own and did not plan to own such merchandise.
Unexpectedly, teens who occasionally or frequently saw cannabis
ads on Instagram were 85% and 93% less likely, respectively, to use
marijuana frequently compared with those who never saw such
promotions.
Trangenstein and colleagues note that, although research into
cannabis marketing is newer, studies on alcohol and tobacco
advertising indicate that "associations between ads and use may not
stop at experimentation—ad exposure may facilitate progression
toward problematic use, and their association may even be
causal."
As states open up access to recreational marijuana for adults,
the researchers say, the collateral effect on youth should not be
ignored.
Press contact:
Jennie Saia
(919) 966-4555
jsaia@unc.edu
Related Images
cannabis-billboard.jpg
Cannabis billboard
Cannabis billboard Seattle 2016
(credit: adrienblanc, via Wikimedia Commons, Creative Commons
Attribution 2.0)
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SOURCE Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs