Simultaneous Alcohol and Marijuana Use Among Young Adults
A study published in Alcoholism Clinical & Experimental Research examined simultaneous alcohol and marijuana use among US young adult alcohol users.
The authors concluded that a growing proportion of early and mid-young adult alcohol users used alcohol and marijuana at the same time.
The highest risk was among those in the early years of young adulthood.
The implication is that older adolescents and young adults should be targeted for both alcohol and marijuana use prevention messages, especially using evidence-based programs shown to influence both alcohol and marijuana consumption.
Without enhanced prevention efforts aimed at early young adults, simultaneous alcohol and marijuana use is likely to increase due to expansion of cannabis legalization across the US.
Read the study abstract:
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/acer.13879
JUUL and Other Stealth Vaporizers
An article published in BMJ Journals Tobacco Control examined stealthy vapor devices in a comprehensive online search.
Findings identified 148,000 videos on YouTube about the popular e-cigarette JUUL, including its use in school settings.
The authors concluded that the vaping industry has demonstrated considerable ingenuity in developing discreet vaporizers and de-emphasized exhaled vapor fumes and aroma.
One implication is that prevention and health specialists should correct inaccurate beliefs about the harmlessness and availability of e-cigarettes like the popular JUUL among youth, parents and teachers, and inform adults about industry efforts to conceal their use among youth.
In addition, youth should be informed about how using the JUUL and other e-cigarettes can negatively affect their performance in sports and physical activities, quality of sleep and stress levels, and therefore hinder goals to look and feel more fit, active and healthy in the future.
Read the study abstract:
https://tobaccocontrol.bmj.com/content/early/2018/09/15/tobaccocontrol-2018-054455
Youth Cannabis Use in E-Cigarettes
A study published in JAMA Pediatrics Online examined the national prevalence of self-reported cannabis use in e-cigarettes among middle and high school students in the US.
The study identified that 1 in 11 US students, including one-third of those who ever used e-cigarettes, used cannabis in e-cigarettes in 2016.
The prevalence of youth using e-cigarettes to smoke marijuana suggests that prevention efforts should address not just the health risks of e-cigarette aerosols and their potential for addiction, but also their increased risk for using marijuana and the social, mental and physical problems that can pose to youth in the future.
Read the research letter:
https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapediatrics/fullarticle/2702200
Youth Future Orientation Linked to Less Hopelessness
A study published in the Journal of Youth and Adolescence examined how emergent future orientation is associated with adolescent hopelessness.
Findings indicated that hopelessness declined quicker for adolescents experiencing faster development of future orientation.
Since hopelessness is associated with violence, delinquency, mental health problems, educational failure and substance use and problems, prevention specialists should use strategies to reduce hopelessness among at-risk youth.
Two strategies to increase the development of future orientation found in evidence-based substance use prevention interventions like the SPORT and InShape Prevention Plus Wellness programs include:
- Cueing desired future images of adolescents and young adults engaged in various wellness-promoting behaviors such as participating in regular physical activity, and providing messages showing how specific substance use habits harm future positive behaviors and identity; and
- Assisting youth and young adults to set and monitor multiple health behavior goals to improve future healthy behaviors and identity.
These two strategies can either be deployed within evidence-based programs or co-opted for use in separate activities to improve future orientation among youth and young adults.
Learn more about the evidence-based SPORT and InShape Prevention Plus Wellness programs: http://preventionpluswellness.com
Read the study abstract:
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The opposite of drug use isn’t non-use, it’s wellness!