Reported by ScienceDaily
A new national study suggests that the way people consume cannabis may reveal important clues about their likelihood of using it heavily or developing an addiction. While smoking remains the most popular method among US adults who use cannabis, roughly one in seven consumes it in nearly every available form. Researchers found that this group had particularly high rates of daily use and cannabis use disorder.
Cannabis is consumed in several ways, including smoking, vaping, eating edibles, and dabbing, which involves heating concentrated cannabis products and inhaling the resulting vapor. Its use is widespread in the United States. Recent national survey figures indicate that approximately 43.8 million Americans ages 12 and older (more than 15 percent) had consumed cannabis within the previous 30 days.
Researchers at NYU Langone Health identified four distinct patterns of cannabis consumption. Nearly half of users, 48 percent, primarily smoked cannabis, while 21 percent combined smoking and vaping. Another 17 percent mainly consumed edibles. The remaining 14 percent belonged to what researchers called the "polymodal group," meaning they used cannabis in almost every available form.
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Cannabis Addiction Rates Differ Sharply by Consumption Pattern
The findings, published online August 8 in the journal Addictive Behaviors , revealed major differences in how frequently these groups consumed cannabis. Approximately half of people in the polymodal group reported using it every day. Daily use was considerably less common among other participants, occurring in 28 percent of those who primarily smoked, 31 percent of those who smoked and vaped, and about 13 percent of those who mainly consumed edibles.
An even more striking difference emerged when researchers examined cannabis use disorder, the medical diagnosis associated with cannabis addiction. About 67 percent of polymodal users met the criteria for the disorder, compared with 47 percent of those who both smoked and vaped, 36 percent of those who mainly smoked, and just 15 percent of participants who primarily used edibles.
"Our findings suggest that using cannabis in multiple forms may be a red flag for heavier use and symptoms of addiction," said study lead author Omar El-Shahawy, MD, PhD, MPH, an assistant professor…