Young adults who are in pain used to start cannabis and most likely mix it with alcohol

In contrast to the popular opinion, young adults can experience considerable acute and even chronic pain – which can motivate them to use cannabis.

A few latest articles by researchers from the psychology department at Binghamton University illuminates this dynamic. “Pain forecast cannabis initiation in emerging adults: Results from the evaluation of the Tobak and Health study (Path)” were recently published in Behavioral medicine, While “the co-use of alcohol and cannabis in the past predicts under the emerging adults”, appeared in the magazine Alcohol.

Research on both articles comes from the doctoral thesis by the senior author Callon Williams; Other authors are Professor Nadine R. Mastroleo, the respected Professor Mark F. Lenzenweg and Williams' consultant, assistant professor Emily L. Zale.

“Estimating adults are seen as healthy, pain -free population, and there is a lot of normative substance consumption.

Research focuses on aspiring adults, the period between 18 and 25 years using data from Path, an epidemiological survey that provides nationally representative data on substance use and health -related behavior in adolescents and adults. From 2013 to 2019, the study comprises 45,971 adults and young people in the United States.

During this time, cannabis was legalized in a further 15 and nine countries for medical or leisure use. For this reason, the definition of cannabis consumption was expanded to include subsequent waves of the survey to include smoking, vaping and using Hashölen, although there were no included.

Coping strategies

It is a widespread misunderstanding that pain – acute or chronic – is limited to older adults. Instead, the rates of some pain conditions reflect pain in the younger population that in older population groups around the world.

“We know that the prevalence of certain chronic pain states reaches its climax and then remains stable on the newly occurring adulthood,” said Zale. “You don't necessarily get the same attention because the expectation is young and healthy, but in our emerging adult rehearsals we can consistently replicate the rates of acute and chronic pain that we would expect due to global data.”

The survey is based on the 10-point pain evaluation scale, which is common in medical agencies. Research in both articles focuses on moderate to severe pain with a score of 4 or more.

What realized that people with moderate to serious pain began over a period of four years with greater probability of cannabis and taking it earlier during this period than people with low or no pain at the start of the study. It was also 1.4 -more often to use alcohol and cannabis together, a riskier behavior that is associated with a more difficult use of substances and more consequences, such as driving, risky sexual behavior or impaired mental health.

While the published studies do not determine whether cannabis consumption exist alone or with alcohol over time or worsens, other studies indicate that this is probably the case, Zale said.

Clinic and other practitioners who work in the event of an emerging adults to take substance consumption can consider evaluating the patient's pain levels to determine whether they use cannabis and/or alcohol as a coping strategy.

“When we work with emerging adults, we need to know how much pain is a factor for your decisions,” she said. “This research offers a starting point for pain as a predictor for the initiation.”