Marijuana may boost risky effects of drinking alcohol
August 13, 2019
Science Daily/Penn State
Compared to people who only drank alcohol, those who used alcohol and marijuana simultaneously were more likely to drink heavier and more often, according to researchers. They were also more likely to experience alcohol-related problems -- like impulsive actions they later regretted.
As the legalization of medical marijuana and marijuana use are both on the rise in the United States, people are not necessarily using alcohol less and may be unaware of the risks of combining alcohol and marijuana, according to researchers.
A new study from Penn State found that compared to people who only drank alcohol, those who used alcohol and marijuana simultaneously were more likely to drink heavier and more often. They were also more likely to experience alcohol-related problems -- like impulsive actions they later regretted.
"The results suggest that individuals who simultaneously use alcohol and marijuana are at a disproportionately higher risk for heavy, frequent, and problematic substance use," said Ashley Linden-Carmichael, assistant research professor at the Edna Bennett Pierce Prevention Research Center at Penn State.
The researchers said the findings -- recently published in the journal Substance Use and Misuse -- also suggest that prevention and intervention programs should take into account not just alcohol, but also if people are using additional substances, as well.
"Right now, a lot of campus programs focus on whether students are drinking, and while sometimes they are asked about other substances, it's not necessarily whether they're using these substances simultaneously," Linden-Carmichael said. "I think we do need to be asking about whether they're drinking in combination with other drugs and educating students about how that exacerbates their risk."
According to the researchers, marijuana use is at an all-time high among young adults in the U.S., possibly leading to people using marijuana and alcohol simultaneously.
"The problem with simultaneous use is that it can affect people cognitively and perceptually, and also have an impact on motor impairment," Linden-Carmichael said. "There is a burgeoning area of research that is examining why people are using marijuana and alcohol together and what those effects are."
In the study, Linden-Carmichael said she and the other researchers were interested in learning more about how people use marijuana and alcohol together. They also wanted to explore whether personality traits -- like the tendency to pursue new and exciting experiences, or "sensation seeking" -- were associated with higher odds of using alcohol and marijuana at the same time.
The researchers recruited 1,017 participants from 49 states in the U.S. between the ages of 18 and 25 for the study. The participants provided information about how often they used alcohol, marijuana and the two substances simultaneously. They also filled out questionnaires that measured their experiences with alcohol-related problems, whether they had a sensation-seeking personality, and how they perceived the drinking habits of their friends.
Linden-Carmichael said that across the board, individuals who used alcohol and marijuana simultaneously were at a greater risk than individuals using alcohol alone.
"Even after controlling for the number of drinks a person typically consumed, people who used alcohol and marijuana at the same time were at a greater risk for problems like blacking out, getting in an argument, or other concerns," Linden-Carmichael said. "Additionally, 70 percent of those who engaged in simultaneous use reported using at least weekly."
The researchers found that among people who used alcohol and marijuana simultaneously, those who used more frequently were more likely to drink more alcohol, more often, and for longer periods of time. They were also associated with using more marijuana more often.
Additionally, they found that people who used alcohol and marijuana together were more likely to have higher levels of sensation-seeking characteristics and think their friends were drinking larger amounts of alcohol.
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/08/190813143853.htm
Marijuana use may not make parents more 'chill'
Pot linked to more use of all kinds of discipline
July 17, 2019
Science Daily/Ohio State University
Sorry, marijuana moms and dads: Using pot may not make you a more relaxed parent, at least when it comes to how you discipline your children.
A study of California parents found that current marijuana users administered more discipline techniques of all kinds to their children on average than did non-users. That includes everything from timeouts to, in some cases, physical abuse.
"The acceptability of marijuana is growing in the United States and with that, more parents feel free to use the drug, sometimes even in front of their children," said Bridget Freisthler, co-author of the study and professor of social work at The Ohio State University.
"Some parents claim it makes them a better, more relaxed parent, but that may not be the case."
The effect of marijuana use on parenting is a relevant concern: A 2017 survey from Yahoo News and Marist College found that 54 percent of adults who use marijuana in the United States are parents. A majority of those parents have children under the age of 18. Some groups of "marijuana moms" claim that use makes them better parents.
The results of this new study suggest that marijuana users -- who are nearly always (92 percent of the time) also alcohol users -- are trying to control their kids more than non-users, Freisthler said.
"It appears that users may be quicker than other parents to react to minor misbehavior," she said.
"We can't tell from this study, but it may be that parents who use marijuana or alcohol don't want their children to spoil the buzz they have, or bother them when they have a hangover."
Freisthler conducted the study with Nancy Jo Kepple of the University of Kansas. Their results were published online this week in the Journal of Social Work Practice in the Addictions.
The researchers interviewed 3,023 randomly selected California parents of children 12 years old or younger by telephone in 2009. They asked participants about their recent use (in the past year) and past use (a year or more ago) of alcohol, marijuana, methamphetamine and other drugs.
They also asked how often the parents used non-violent discipline (such as timeouts or taking away privileges), corporal punishment (such as spanking) and physical abuse (such as hitting a child with a fist).
This is one of the first studies to look at how use of specific types of substances are related to a variety of parental discipline practices in the general population, Freisthler said.
The findings revealed that parents who used marijuana in the past year tended to use more of all types of discipline compared to non-users, even after taking into account a variety of other factors that could impact use of discipline, such as parental stress and depression and child and parent demographics. The same was true of alcohol users.
Parents who had used alcohol or marijuana in the past, but were not at the time of the research interview, also applied most types of discipline more often than did non-users.
And the more substances that parents used, the more often they disciplined their children in all types of ways, according to the study. For example, parents who reported using the most substances practiced physical abuse at a rate about 1.45 times greater than those who used only one substance.
Results showed that the annual frequency of physical abuse was 0.5 times higher among parents who used both alcohol and marijuana in the past year, compared to those who consumed only alcohol.
"The use of several different kinds of substances certainly is a warning sign that parents may be relying more heavily on discipline to control their children," she said.
Freisthler said this study shows that while marijuana use has become more mainstream and is legal in more states, there is still need for caution.
"Marijuana use is not risk-free. It affects a lot of behaviors, including parenting."
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/07/190717084343.htm