High School Students' Use of Electronic Cigarettes to Vaporize Cannabis.
OBJECTIVE
Electronic cigarette (e-cigarette) use is increasing rapidly among high school (HS) students. Of concern, e-cigarettes can be used to vaporize cannabis, although use rates among adolescents are unknown. We evaluated lifetime rates of using e-cigarettes to vaporize cannabis among all lifetime e-cigarette users (27.9%), all lifetime cannabis users (29.2%), and lifetime users of both e-cigarettes and cannabis (18.8%); common means of vaporizing cannabis including hash oil, wax infused with Δ-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), and dried cannabis; and demographic predictors of using e-cigarettes to vaporize cannabis.


METHODS
In the spring of 2014, 3847 Connecticut HS students completed an anonymous survey assessing e-cigarette and cannabis use.


RESULTS
Vaporizing cannabis using e-cigarettes was common among lifetime e-cigarette users, lifetime cannabis users, and lifetime dual users (e-cigarette 18.0%, cannabis 18.4%, dual users 26.5%). Students reported using e-cigarettes to vaporize hash oil (e-cigarette 15.4%, cannabis 15.5%, dual users 22.9%) and wax infused with THC (e-cigarette 10.0%, cannabis 10.2%, dual users 14.8%) and using portable electronic vaporizers to vaporize dried cannabis leaves (e-cigarette 19.6%, lifetime cannabis 23.1%, lifetime dual users 29.1%). Binary logistic regression indicated that male students (odds ratio [OR] = 2.05), younger students (OR = 0.64), lifetime e-cigarette users (OR = 5.27), and lifetime cannabis users (OR = 40.89) were most likely to vaporize cannabis using e-cigarettes. Rates also differed by HS attended.


CONCLUSIONS
Rates of vaporizing cannabis using e-cigarettes were high. These findings raise concerns about the lack of e-cigarette regulations and the potential use of e-cigarettes for purposes other than vaping nicotine.
Department of Psychology, Oberlin College, Oberlin, Ohio; Department of Psychiatry, and meghan.morean@gmail.com.
Meghan E
ME
Morean
Department of Psychiatry, and.
Grace
G
Kong
Department of Emergency Medicine, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut.
Deepa R
DR
Camenga
Department of Psychiatry, and.
Dana A
DA
Cavallo
Department of Psychiatry, and.
Suchitra
S
Krishnan-Sarin
D000293:Adolescent; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D066300:Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008385:Marijuana Smoking / Q000453:epidemiology*; D009330:Nebulizers and Vaporizers; D013334:Students