According to a study published Monday, young people who use vaporizers are more likely to use marijuana. The findings, the researchers say, support the theory that nicotine disrupts connections in the developing brain, changing the way people respond to and crave addictive substances.
“Teens have a brain that is still changing and developing,” said Dr. Nicholas Chadi, lead author of the study, who conducted the research as a pediatric addiction medicine fellow at Boston Children’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School.
When a young brain is exposed to an addictive substance like nicotine, it “tends to become sensitized to other substances; it tends to look for an exciting and rewarding feeling, ”said Chadi. “And then other substances like marijuana become more attractive.”
The research, published in the medical journal JAMA Pediatrics, looked at more than 20 pre-existing studies of people ages 10-24. The review found that the odds of marijuana use were 3.5 times higher in people who vaped compared to those who did not.
That link suggests that “electronic cigarettes really should be considered in the broad category of addictive and harmful substances,” said Chadi, who is now an assistant professor at the University of Montreal.
“We can’t think of e-cigarettes as a less harmful alternative to cigarettes,” he said, in part because “like cigarettes, e-cigarettes increase the risk of using marijuana, and marijuana, we know, has several implications and consequences. negative for adolescent health ”.
Teen drug use is associated with declines in intelligence and mental function that persist into adulthood, according to some studies, and marijuana has been linked to psychosis, which can include hallucinations and delusions.
The study looked at the correlation, not the causality
The studies included in the new review looked for correlation, not causation, meaning the researchers were unable to prove that e-cigarettes directly caused an increase in cannabis use. But when it comes to finding out why marijuana use steadily increased in those who vape, Chadi said, “It’s hard for me to find a better explanation.”
“A reasonable hypothesis,” he said, “is that the use of electronic cigarettes could cause at least part of that increased risk of using marijuana.”
Most of the 21 studies included in the review were adjusted for gender, age, race and socioeconomic status, Chadi said. The research works best “by adjusting all those factors and repeating the same study in different parts of the world and using different designs,” he said.
“The more times you do this, the less chance you have of finding an association that is not true,” he added.
Compared to young adults ages 18-24, teens younger than 17 were also more likely to use marijuana if they smoked, according to the review. “The relationship seemed to be stronger in younger people compared to older people,” said Chadi. That makes sense, he said, because “a younger brain is more vulnerable to the effects of substances in general.”
If a younger teen is exposed to e-cigarettes, “I would expect there to be an increased risk of them using marijuana, compared to an older teen or young adult who may have a more developed brain and not be as sensitive to the negative effects. of nicotine, “he added.
Developing brains are more vulnerable, experts say
Experts have previously warned that nicotine changes the brain, interfering with development until about age 26.
Adam Leventhal, director of the University of Southern California’s Health, Emotion and Addiction Laboratory, told CNN earlier this year that “there is concern that the adolescent brain is more vulnerable to the addictive effects of nicotine.”
He added that “the circuits that underlie pleasure and the search for new and pleasant experiences develop much faster than the circuits that promote decision-making, impulse control and rational thinking.”
The nation’s best doctor also weighed in. Former Surgeon General Dr. Vivek H. Murthy, in a 2016 report, said, “Compared to older adults, the brains of young and young adults are more vulnerable to the negative consequences of nicotine exposure.”
The link between nicotine and marijuana is not new. A study published last year, for example, found that teens who smoked and used hookah were up to four times more likely to use marijuana later.
Some teens put cannabis into e-cigarettes, and nearly 1 in 11 middle and high school students say they have used marijuana, according to a report released last year.
While more than two dozen states have legalized marijuana in some way, whether for medical or recreational use, Chadi cautioned that the drug is not without risk, especially for young people. It can affect memory, learning and high-level functioning, he said, and “those are risks that don’t go away.”