Why Some Pot Smokers Face a Higher Risk
of Drinking Problems
In the study, researchers analyzed information from people in Washington state who were asked about their use of alcohol and marijuana over the past year, and whether they had ever experienced problems from their drinking. The survey took place from 2014 to 2015;recreational marijuana use was legalized in Washington in 2012.
Of the
more than 2,400 people who said they drank alcohol in the past year, 70 percent
said they used alcohol only, 18 percent said they tended to use alcohol and
marijuana simultaneously, and 13 percent said they used both drugs, but
separately.
Those
who used both drugs simultaneously reported drinking more frequently, and
consuming higher amounts of alcohol, than those who said they used both
substances separately, as well as those who used only alcohol, the researchers
said.
What's
more, the people who simultaneously used alcohol and marijuana were
at a greater risk of experiencing problems from their alcohol use, compared
with those who used only alcohol.
Simultaneous users were three times more
likely to drive drunk, 6.5 times more likely to experience alcohol-related
financial problems and four times more likely to experience alcohol-related
health problems, compared with those who used only alcohol, according to the
study. The study was presented here on Monday (Oct. 31) at the meeting of the
American Public Health Association.
The
findings suggest that in order to minimize harms from alcohol "people who
use both [marijuana and alcohol] should probably use them separately,"
said study researcher Meenakshi Subbaraman, a biostatistician at the Alcohol
Research Group, part of the nonprofit Public Health Institute in Emeryville,
California. And in states where marijuana is legal, policymakers might consider
requiring warning labels on marijuana products about the risks of combining the
substance with alcohol, Subbaraman said.
People
who used alcohol and marijuana separately were not at increased risk of
alcohol-related problems compared to those who used only alcohol.
The
results are similar to those of a 2015 study conducted by the same group of
researchers. That study, which surveyed Americans in all 50 states, also found
that those who used alcohol and marijuana together were at greater risk for
harms, such as financial and health problems, than those who used alcohol only.
However,
the 2015 study also found that people who used the two substances
simultaneously were at greater risk for drunken driving than
those who used the two substances separately.
The current study did not find a
difference between drunken driving risks for the simultaneous users versus
those who used the two substances separately, which was surprising, Subbaraman
said. It could be that the current study did not have enough participants to
detect a difference, and so future research is needed to look at this question,
Subbaraman said.
The
current study was also conducted at a single point in time, so it cannot prove
that using alcohol and marijuana together is actually the cause of the
increased risk of problems. It could be that those who use the two drugs
together are more impulsive, or that they are more likely to use the drugs in
certain locations (such as at parties versus at home), which could account for
the increased risks, Subbaraman said. More research is needed that follows
these people over time to get a better understanding of the reasons behind the
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