A survey of 7,612 adolescents in California, USA found that seeing a lot of posts about cannabis on social media was linked with an increase in use of e-cigarettes or cannabis or both within a year, while seeing a lot of TikToks about e-cigs was linked with an increase in use of cannabis or both e-cigs and cannabis within a year. Seeing e-cig and cannabis posts by 'microinfluencers' was also linked to higher cannabis use, while seeing e-cig posts from friends was linked with increased use of both cannabis and e-cigs, and seeing friends' cannabis posts was linked with increased use of both cannabis and e-cigs. The researchers behind the study say the results suggest exposure to e-cig or cannabis posts on social media may contribute to teens' use of these substances. Improved community guidelines and policies to address social media marketing of e-cigs and cannabis may help prevent youth substance use, they conclude.
Journal/conference: JAMA Network Open
Research: Paper
Organisation/s: University of Southern California, USA
E-Cigarette and Cannabis Social Media Posts and Adolescent Substance Use
About The Study: In this survey study of California adolescents, exposure to e-cigarette or cannabis posts was associated with adolescent e-cigarette, cannabis, or dual use. Improvement of social media community guidelines and greater policy attention to co-use and marketing of e-cigarettes and cannabis may help prevent youth substance use.
Note: Not all attachments are visible to the general public
