Tobacco-cannabis use, anxiety and depression among U.S. adults

Washington, Sep 13 (Prensa Latina) A study by the U.S. University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), showed that a quarter of tobacco and cannabis consumers experienced anxiety or depression, nearly twice as much as those who do not use them, the journal PLOS ONE published Wednesday.

September 13, 2023
18:23

Of 87,984 US participants who completed the baseline survey and provided data on tobacco and cannabis use, 53,843 participants (response rate of 61.2%) who completed at least one monthly survey on mental health were included in this analysis.

Tobacco and cannabis are among the most commonly used substances worldwide. In the U.S., 22.1% of adults reported using tobacco and 12.4% using cannabis in the past month in 2020.

Overall, 4.9% of participants reported using only tobacco, 6.9% only cannabis, and 1.6% using it jointly.

Among US adults in the co-consumption group, 26.5% reported anxiety and 28.3% reported depression, while among people who did not use either of these substances the percentages of anxiety and depression were 10.6% and 11.2%, respectively.

The study found that the likelihood of suffering from these mental health disorders was approximately 1.8 times higher for co-users than for non-users.

Co-use and exclusive cannabis use were also associated with an increased likelihood of having anxiety compared to exclusive tobacco use.

pll/rgh/lpn