Lebanon, NH: Cannabis consumers who reside in states that permit the medicinal use of cannabis are more likely to utilize alternative ingestion methods, such as vaporization, compared to those who live in states that do not, according to survey data published in online ahead of print in the International Journal of Drug Policy.
Investigators at the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth evaluated self-reported marijuana consumption patterns in a sample of over 2,800 subjects. Authors found that a higher proportion of respondents from non-medical marijuana states preferred smoking cannabis. By contrast, respondents in states with medicinal cannabis access were more likely to acknowledge consuming cannabis via vaporizers or in edible formulations.
Respondents were most likely to acknowledge using alternative methods of ingestion in jurisdictions where there existed a high density of dispensaries.
Researchers observed “no significant differences in age of onset of smoking, vaping, or edibles … between respondents from MML (medical marijuana law) and non-MML states, across durations of MML status, or across dispensary density categories.”
Authors also noted that the passage of more recent state laws regulating the use of cannabis by adults was not positively associated with an increase in the use of alternative methods of ingestion.
For more information, please contact Paul Armentano, NORML Deputy Director, at: paul@norml.org. Full text of the study, “Smoking, vaping, eating: Is legalization impacting the way people use cannabis,” appears in the International Journal of Drug Policy.