Nearly one in five high school students who said they used electronic cigarettes to vaporize nicotine also used them to vaporize pot, according to a survey of nearly 4,000 Connecticut teens.
The study, published on Monday in the journal Pediatrics, is the first evidence that teens are using electronic cigarettes to vaporize cannabis, the researchers said.
The paper by Meghan Morean of Oberlin College in Ohio and colleagues raises concerns that the rising popularity of e-cigarettes may encourage teens to use the devices to vaporize cannabis, potentially exposing them to higher concentrations of tetrahydrocannabinol or THC, the main psychoactive ingredient in marijuana.
"Forms of cannabis that can be vaporized, like hash oil, can be many times stronger than marijuana that is smoked," Morean said in an email.
A study released last month suggested U.S. teens who try electronic cigarettes may be more than twice as likely to move on to smoking conventional cigarettes than those who have never tried the devices.
According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about 2 million middle- and high-school students tried e-cigarettes in 2014, triple the number of teen users in 2013.
Morean and colleagues found that of students who had used e-cigarettes, 18 percent had used them to vaporize cannabis in some form, including hash oil and wax infused with tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the main psychoactive cannabis ingredient.
High school students in the study were 27 times as likely to use e-cigarettes to vaporize cannabis as adults who use e-cigarettes, the researchers said.
Male and younger students were more likely to use e-cigarettes to vaporize cannabis than female and older students, but socioeconomic status was not a factor. Use differed among the five schools involved, possibly because of different policies.
While the findings were limited to Connecticut schools and may not apply to states with varying cannabis laws, the pattern is worrisome, said Dustin Lee, a postdoctoral fellow at the Geisel School of Medicine in Dartmouth College, New Hampshire, by email. Lee was not involved in the study.
"We know very little about the acute and long-term effects of high-potency THC on neurobiology and behavior," Lee said in an email. "This is especially concerning for teens, who are in a critical time for development of brain structures that are integral in executive functioning."
Reuters
Mon Sep 07 2015
Of the 2 million students who had used e-cigarettes, 18 percent had used them to vaporize cannabis in some form, including hash oil and wax infused with THC. - Justin Sullivan/Getty Images/AFP
Berkelakuan ganas, dua suspek ditahan
Dua lelaki dijatuhi hukuman penjara selama dua tahun lapan bulan atas kesalahan berkelakuan ganas susulan rusuhan yang menyasarkan masyarakat islam di beberapa bandar United Kingdom (UK) pada Khamis.
Palestin gesa ICC keluar waran tangkap ke atas Menteri Israel Smotrich
Palestin pada Khamis menggesa Mahkamah Jenayah Antarabangsa (ICC) agar mengeluarkan waran tangkap ke atas Menteri Kewangan Israel Bezalel Smotrich susulan kenyataannya untuk membiarkan dua juta penduduk di Semenanjung Gaza maut akibat kebuluran.
Muhammad Yunus pulang ke Dhaka, bakal angkat sumpah
Muhammad Yunus dijangka mengangkat sumpah sebagai Ketua Kerajaan sementara di hadapan Presiden Bangladesh, Mohammed Shahabuddin pada petang Khamis waktu tempatan.
Palestin pilih Malaysia jadi tuan rumah untuk Piala Dunia 2026
Malaysia akan menjadi tuan rumah bagi perlawanan Pusingan Ketiga Kelayakan Piala Dunia 2026 Zon Asia di antara Palestin dan Jordan yang dijadualkan berlangsung di Stadium Bola Sepak Kuala Lumpur, Cheras pada Selasa, 10 September 2024.
FGV hasilkan minyak isirung sawit mentah pertama patuh EUDR
FGV Holdings Bhd mengukuhkan komitmennya terhadap amalan mampan dengan mengeluarkan minyak isirung sawit mentah (CPKO) pertama yang mematuhi Peraturan Bebas Penebangan Hutan Kesatuan Eropah (EUDR).
Nik Nazmi tawar diri bertanding jawatan Presiden KLFA
Menteri Sumber Asli dan Kelestarian Alam, Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad akhirnya mengesahkan menawarkan diri bertanding bagi jawatan Presiden Persatuan Bolasepak Kuala Lumpur (KLFA).
[TERKINI] Tesla tidak pernah buat komitmen buka kilang di Malaysia - Tengku Zafrul
Tesla tidak pernah membuat komitmen untuk membuka kilang di Malaysia
Tesla tidak pernah buat komitmen buka kilang di Malaysia - Tengku Zafrul
Tesla tidak pernah membuat komitmen untuk membuka kilang di Malaysia, kata Menteri Pelaburan, Perdagangan dan Industri Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz.
Mahkamah Tinggi benarkan permohonan Amir Hadi
Mahkamah Persekutuan akan melihat menentukan keabsahan peruntukan Seksyen 9 Akta Perhimpunan Aman, berhubung pertuduhan ke atas Setiausaha Agung MuDa, Amir Hariri Abd Hadi
Dua ditahan, pelbagai dadah bernilai RM3.44 juta dirampas
Polis percaya berjaya menumpaskan sindiket pembungkusan dan pengedaran dadah hasil rampasan pelbagai dadah bernilai RM3.44 juta dalam empat serbuan berasingan di sekitar bandar raya ini dan Tangkak pada 3 Ogos hingga semalam.