A new study examining a Reddit community aimed at providing young people with information about cannabis finds that although responses to posts \u201cwere generally thorough and responsive,\u201d nearly all came from \u201copinions and personal experiences\u201d rather than reliable sources.<\/p>\n
While youth seem increasingly to be turning to online platforms like Reddit to answer questions about marijuana, researchers said, there\u2019s a \u201clack of verifiable information being exchanged,\u201d which could allow misinformation to spread \u201cand inadvertently worsen the efforts to reduce cannabis harm.\u201d<\/p>\n
But the shortcoming may reveal an opportunity, authors of the study, published in the journal PLOS ONE this month, said. Interventions\u2014including, potentially, on Reddit itself\u2014that \u201cprovide understandable and accurate information in accessible formats may increase young people\u2019s ability to access and practice harm reduction.\u201d<\/p>\n
Reddit\u2019s most ubiquitous cannabis community, r\/trees, is intended for adults 18 and older; its third rule is \u201cNo Minors.\u201d For years, some members of the community have instead directed younger redditors to r\/saplings, a subreddit that describes itself as \u201ca place to learn about cannabis use and culture.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\u201cYoung people viewed Reddit as a viable outlet for conversations about cannabis.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
The moderator\u2019s pinned post from eight months ago emphasizes that the community \u201cIS MEANT FOR ALL AGES\u201d and emphasizes that \u201cNO THAT DOES NOT MEAN WE SUPPORT UNDERAGE SMOKERS.\u201d Instead, it says, the subreddit exists \u201cFOR PEOPLE TO GET HELPFUL AND ACCURATE ADVICE, REGARDLESS OF AGE.\u201d<\/p>\n
Researchers from UTHealth Houston School of Public Health, Purdue University\u2019s Department of Public Health and the University of Minnesota\u2019s School of Social Work, however, found that comments on the r\/saplings often weren\u2019t grounded in clear, concrete information.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur findings suggest that young people view Reddit as a viable outlet for conversations about cannabis,\u201d they wrote, noting that during their yearlong study period, which began before the COVID-19 pandemic and went through October 2020, both posts and comments increased. That increase, the study says, suggests Reddit \u201cmay play an increasingly important role in youth socialization related to cannabis.\u201d<\/p>\n
It notes that when the study began, in October 2019, r\/saplings had 53,000 members, which grew to 62,000 members by October 2020. Today the group\u2019s membership stands at 96,000.<\/p>\n
The researchers looked at 213 randomly selected posts and 2,546 comments across four time periods: before the pandemic, when lockdown was in place for many countries, as lockdown guidelines lifted and as students returned to school the next fall.<\/p>\n
They observed that over the course of the early months of the pandemic, the type of information sought on r\/saplings changed. Areas such as \u201cplaces to acquire\u201d and \u201cfuture use\u201d were most common early on, with posts around strain selection, how users obtained cannabis and how to grow the plant. Later on during the study period, the study says, \u201cthe theme of \u2018consequences\u2019 and the topic of \u2018tolerance\u2019 became more prominent,\u201d with more questions like, \u201cIs using a plastic water bottle bong unsafe?\u201d and \u201cAny reason I\u2019m getting way higher than normal with the usual weed\/amount?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cUsers were responsive to posts,\u201d authors noted. On average, posts received 12 comments, with one garnering 200 and only 11.7 percent (25) receiving no responses. Moreover, the community seemed to have good intentions.<\/p>\n
\u201cGenerally, comments were thorough and responsive to the materials shared in the post,\u201d the report says. But few pointed posters to verifiable sources of information: \u201cMost often, the comments were based on opinions or personal experiences. Although rare, some referenced or directed individuals to other sources (e.g., YouTube, websites); of these, only two comments referenced a credible source (e.g., public health department).\u201d<\/p>\n
But many comments, as in other communities on Reddit, were based on personal anecdotes or opinions. Others referenced second hand experiences, such as by \u201csome people I know,\u201d while others expressed only brief support or opposition to an earlier comment.<\/p>\n
Still, researchers noted that \u201ccommenters ultimately formed a sense of camaraderie by providing support in the comments.\u201d And they acknowledged that sense of community could potentially be valuable for young people learning how to navigate a sensitive and sometimes dangerous world.<\/p>\n
\u201cOther prior work has similarly demonstrated that young people use social media as an important source of information and support about sensitive topics,\u201d the study says. \u201cGiven the increase in subreddit activity and engagement, Reddit may play an increasingly important role in socialization related to cannabis.\u201d<\/p>\n
The appetite among young people for reliable information about cannabis, the authors said, could also provide opportunities to encourage safer behavior.<\/p>\n
\u201cInterventions that provide understandable and accurate information in accessible formats may increase young people\u2019s ability to access and consequently practice harm reduction strategies,\u201d they wrote, adding that Reddit \u201cmay be one possible tool in such interventions.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\u201cYoung people want to reduce harms associated with cannabis use and may be open to harm reduction information if shared on platforms with like-minded individuals in an easily accessible format.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
\u201cOther studies have similarly demonstrated that social media is not only a valuable source of information but also provides support for harm reduction and recovery,\u201d the research<\/a> adds. \u201cNevertheless, r\/saplings may not always be an adequate source of confirmable information on cannabis.\u201d<\/p>\n
Young people aren\u2019t alone in their efforts to seek out more information about cannabis use and safety, of course\u2014some adult users, medical marijuana patients and even doctors acknowledge feeling they lack a sufficient understanding of the drug.<\/p>\n
As for legalization\u2019s impact on youth use of marijuana, multiple studies have debunked the idea that the reform broadly increases youth use, with most finding that consumption trends are either stable or decrease after the reform is implemented. Use by heavy users may increase, however.<\/p>\n
For example, a research letter published by the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) in April said there\u2019s no evidence that\u00a0states\u2019 adoption of laws to legalize and regulate marijuana for adults have led to an increase in youth use<\/a>\u00a0of cannabis.<\/p>\n
Another JAMA-published study earlier that month that similarly found that\u00a0neither legalization nor the opening of retail stores led to increases in youth cannabis use<\/a>.<\/p>\n
Data from a recent\u00a0Washington State survey of adolescent and teenage students<\/a> found overall declines in both lifetime and past-30-day marijuana use since legalizations, with striking drops in recent years that held steady through 2023. The results also indicate that perceived ease of access to cannabis among underage students has generally fallen since the state enacted legalization for adults in 2012.<\/p>\n
Rates of youth marijuana use in Colorado, meanwhile, declined slightly in 2023\u2014remaining significantly lower than before legalization<\/a>. That\u2019s according to results of the biannual Healthy Kids Colorado Survey released this month that found that past-30-day use of cannabis among high schoolers was at 12.8 percent in 2023, a dip from the 13.3 percent reported in 2021.<\/p>\n
A separate study late last year also found that Canadian high-school students reported\u00a0it was more difficult to access marijuana since the government legalized the drug nationwide<\/a>\u00a0in 2019. The prevalence of current cannabis use also fell during the study period, from 12.7 percent in 2018\u201319 to 7.5 percent in 2020\u201321, even as retail sales of marijuana expanded across the country.<\/p>\n
In December, meanwhile, a U.S. health official said that teen marijuana use has not increased\u00a0\u201ceven as state legalization has proliferated across the country.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n
\u201cThere have been no substantial increases at all,\u201d said Marsha Lopez, chief of the National Institute on Drug Abuse\u2019s (NIDA) epidemiological research branch. \u201cIn fact, they have not reported an increase in perceived availability either, which is kind of interesting.\u201d<\/p>\n
Another earlier analysis from CDC found that\u00a0rates of current and lifetime cannabis use among high school students<\/a>\u00a0have continued to drop amid the legalization movement.<\/p>\n
A study of high school students in Massachusetts that was published last November found that\u00a0youth in that state were no more likely to use marijuana after legalization<\/a>, though more students perceived their parents as cannabis consumers after the policy change.<\/p>\n
A separate NIDA-funded study published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine in 2022 also found that state-level\u00a0cannabis legalization was not associated with increased youth use<\/a>. The study demonstrated that \u201cyouth who spent more of their adolescence under legalization were no more or less likely to have used cannabis at age 15 years than adolescents who spent little or no time under legalization.\u201d<\/p>\n
Yet another 2022 study from Michigan State University researchers,\u00a0published in the journal PLOS One<\/a>, found that \u201ccannabis retail sales might be followed by the increased occurrence of cannabis onsets for older adults\u201d in legal states, \u201cbut not for underage persons who cannot buy cannabis products in a retail outlet.\u201d<\/p>\n
The trends were observed despite\u00a0adult use of marijuana and certain psychedelics reaching \u201chistoric highs\u201d<\/a>\u00a0in 2022, according to separate data released last year.<\/p>\n
\nSenate Bill Would Protect Job Corps Students From Being Automatically Expelled Over Marijuana Use<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n
The post Youth See Reddit As \u2018Viable Outlet\u2019 For Marijuana Info, But Posts Often Have \u2018Lack Of Verifiable\u2019 Facts, Study Finds<\/a> appeared first on Marijuana Moment<\/a>.<\/p>\n
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