Does Marijuana Use Serve as a Gateway to Cigarette Use for High-Risk African-American Youth?

Abstract

Background/Objectives-The purpose of this investigation was to test whether the gateway hypothesis of drug initiation sequencing applies equally well to high-risk African-American and Caucasian youth.Methods-The study sample (N = 618, mean age =15.5, SD =1.2) represented the population of residents in the Missouri Division of Youth Services (DYS) who had initiated marijuana and nicotine use.Results-As hypothesized, African-American youth were significantly more likely to initiate marijuana use before cigarette use. Over one-third of African Americans reported initiating marijuana before cigarettes (37.9%), compared to less than one-quarter of youth in the other ethnic groups (Caucasian = 17.3%, Latino/Latina = 21.7%, Biracial/Other = 20.8%). Further, multinomial simulation and logistic regression models revealed that African-American youth were significantly more likely than other ethnic groups to initiate marijuana before cigarettes (Adjusted OR = 3.53, CI = 1.92-6.46).Conclusions/Scientific Significance-Findings suggest that the hypothesized gateway sequence may not apply equally well to African-Americans, and that prevention efforts based on this theory may need to be amended for these youth.

Assessing the overlap between tobacco and marijuana: Trends in patterns of co-use of tobacco and marijuana in adults from 2003–2012

“…Some studies of adolescents and young adults have suggested a positive association between male sex and co-use (Guxens, Nebot, & Ariza, 2007;Penetar, Kouri, Gross, et al, 2005;Victoir et al, 2007), others have suggested a negative association (Ohene, Ireland, & Blum, 2005;Suris et al, 2007), and one found no correlation (Aung, Pickworth, & Moolchan, 2004). A number of studies have found African-American ethnicity (Aung et al, 2004;Vaughn, Wallace, Perron, Copeland, & Howard, 2008;White, Jarrett, Valencia, Loeber, & Wei, 2007) or multi-ethnicity to be associated with co-use (Ramo, Delucchi, Hall, Liu, & Prochaska, 2013). Another study assessing the correlates of cigarette smoking among adult marijuana users found that the odds of being a current smoker were greater for individuals using one or more other illicit drug (e.g., not marijuana) in the past month, but alcohol use was not a significant correlate (Richter et al, 2004).…”

The association between alcohol, marijuana use, and new and emerging tobacco products in a young adult population

“…Evidence shows that alcohol use, one's first experience of drunkenness, and marijuana use in junior high and high school may be gateways to tobacco initiation and nicotine dependence in young adulthood (Collins, 2002;Ellickson, Hays, & Bell, 1992;Graham, Collins, Wugalter, Chung, & Hansen, 1991;Patton et al, 2005;Tarter, Vanyukov, Kirisci, Reynolds, & Clark, 2006;Vaughn, Wallace, Perron, Copeland, & Howard, 2008). The role of marijuana as a gateway to tobacco initiation and use is particularly noteworthy given recent state-level changes in the legalization of marijuana (Office of National Drug Control Policy & The White House, 2014).…”

Prior Exposure to THC Increases the Addictive Effects of Nicotine in Rats

“…However, there is epidemiological evidence that cannabis use develops before tobacco use in a substantial number of cases (Agrawal et al 2011;Tullis et al, 2003;Vaughn et al, 2008), and that cannabis use by teenagers increases the likelihood of developing tobacco dependence when they reach young adulthood (Patton et al, 2005;Timberlake et al, 2007). While there is also evidence that genetic, social, and environmental factors encourage the co-use of cannabis and tobacco (Agrawal et al, 2012), findings that cannabis use sometimes precedes regular tobacco use raise the possibility that THC exposure might increase susceptibility to nicotine addiction.…”