Comparison of the locations where young adults smoke, vape, and eat/drink cannabis: Implications for harm reduction

Background: Cannabis vaping and edible use are increasingly popular methods of cannabis use. These discreet methods could increase risk of cannabis-related problems by facilitating cannabis use in a wider range of settings. Methods: A sample of 1018 college students were recruited to complete a survey about their health and behavior. Participants who used cannabis in the past year (35.1%, n = 357) answered questions about their cannabis use, including where they were the last time they smoked, vaped, or ate/drank cannabis, and their experience of cannabis-related problems. Results: Compared with cannabis smoking, participants were more likely to have vaped cannabis (15.8% smoked vs. 24.6% vaped; X² = 4.59, p =.032), and were slightly, but not statistically significantly, more likely to have used cannabis edibles (17.5% smoked vs. 24.2% used edibles; X² = 3.57, p =.059), in locations other than a private residence. For example, participants were more likely to have vaped cannabis in a car than to have smoked cannabis in a car (8.8% vaped vs. 3.5% smoked; X² = 4.26, p =.039). More frequent cannabis vaping was associated with driving while high on cannabis, even after accounting for overall frequency of cannabis use and other covariates (OR = 1.22, p =.047). More frequent cannabis vaping and edible use were associated with various cannabis-related problems, but, in general, these associations became statistically non-significant after accounting for overall frequency of cannabis use. Conclusions: Cannabis vaporizers and edibles facilitate cannabis use in locations that require discretion. Increased availability of cannabis vaporizers and edibles could increase risk of cannabis-related problems by enabling use in more settings.