Morning cannabis use in young adults: Associations with overall levels of use, negative consequences, and cannabis use disorder symptoms across 2.5 years

BACKGROUND

Emerging research suggests morning cannabis use may be associated with using more cannabis and experiencing more cannabis-related consequences. This paper examined whether months when young adults reported morning cannabis use (use between 6:00AM and 12:00PM) were associated with cannabis use frequency, negative cannabis-related consequences, and changes in cannabis use disorder (CUD) symptoms.

METHODS

Participants were 778 young adults (Mage=21.11 years, 58.5% female) enrolled in a longitudinal study on substance use and social role transitions. Eligible participants were 18-23 years old at screening and reported past-year alcohol use. Participants completed a baseline survey, 24 consecutive monthly surveys, and a follow-up survey 30 months after baseline. Aims were tested using multilevel models and multiple regression.

RESULTS

Analyses were limited to cannabis use months (N=4719; 28.9% of sampled months) and participants who reported cannabis use at least once (N=542; 69.7% of all participants). Morning use was reported in 12.3% of cannabis use months and at least once by 23.6% of participants who reported using cannabis. Relative to non-morning use months, morning use months were associated with greater cannabis use frequency and more negative consequences. However, the association between morning use and negative consequences was not statistically significant after controlling for cannabis use frequency. The percentage of cannabis use months with morning use was positively associated with increased CUD symptoms at the 30-month follow-up, relative to baseline.

CONCLUSIONS

Morning cannabis use may be a useful marker of high-risk cannabis use and may contribute to the maintenance and worsening of CUD over time.

Racial/Ethnic Differences in 30-Year Trajectories of Cannabis Use among Males

Background: Given that cannabis is the most commonly used illicit substance in the US, continuous research on patterns of cannabis use over the life course can help to ensure progress towards improving public health and reducing health inequalities across race/ethnicity. Thus, we examine racial/ethnic differences in cannabis use trajectories among males across two overlapping stages of the life course. Methods: We use data from two companion studies, the Rochester Youth Development Study (RYDS - a longitudinal cohort study that followed participants from adolescence into adulthood), and its intergenerational extension - the Rochester Intergenerational Study. For Life Stage 1, we consider cannabis use during the transition from adolescence to adulthood (spanning ages 13 to 33; 439 Black, 128 White, and 125 Hispanic males). Among these males who became fathers, we consider cannabis use during fatherhood (Life Stage 2 -spanning the period of time when their firstborn child was between the ages of 7 and 17-217 Black, 55 White, and 56 Hispanic males). Ordinal generalized estimating equations were specified to examine cannabis use trajectories during both stages of the males' lives. Results: No significant differences in cannabis use as a function of racial/ethnic group were found during the transition from adolescence to adulthood (Life Stage 1). All groups had a peak of cannabis use in the early to mid-20's followed by a decline in use. During fatherhood (Life Stage 2), cannabis use was stable for all groups, but Black fathers reported more frequent cannabis use on average than Hispanic fathers. Conclusions: The increase in cannabis use well past adolescence for all groups suggests the potential importance of intervention initiatives during the transition to adulthood. The more frequent use of cannabis by Black fathers warrants further study given the impact parental cannabis use can have on offspring.