@article{ref1,
title="Alcohol use and risk of related problems among cannabis users is lower among those with medical cannabis recommendations, though not due to health",
journal="Journal of studies on alcohol and drugs",
year="2018",
author="Subbaraman, Meenakshi S. and Kerr, William C.",
volume="79",
number="6",
pages="935-942",
abstract="OBJECTIVE: A small body of work has started developing cannabis use &quot;typologies&quot; for use in treatment and prevention. Two potentially relevant dimensions for classifying cannabis use typologies are medical versus recreational cannabis use and the co-use of cannabis and alcohol. Here we compare alcohol use and related problems between cannabis users with and without medical cannabis recommendations. <br><br>METHOD: Data come from a larger general population study in Washington State conducted between January 2014 and October 2016. All participants in the analytic sample (n = 991) reported using both alcohol and cannabis in the past 12 months. The primary exposure was having a medical recommendation for cannabis. Outcomes were past-30-day drinking (drinks/day, frequency of 5+ drinks, and maximum number of drinks in a day) and past-12-month Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) scores. <br><br>RESULTS: Compared with those without medical cannabis recommendations, cannabis users with medical cannabis recommendations had 0.59 times fewer drinks/day, 0.44 times fewer occasions drinking 5+, and 0.78 times the average maximum number of drinks in one day (all ps <.05). Those with a recommendation also had 0.87 times lower AUDIT total scores (p <.05) and 0.57 times lower AUDIT problem scores (p <.01). <br><br>CONCLUSIONS: Cannabis users with medical cannabis recommendations drink less and have fewer alcohol-related problems than those without recommendations, even after adjusting for health status. Future studies should examine nonhealth reasons regarding how medical and nonmedical users use cannabis differently.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="1937-1888",
doi="",
url="http://dx.doi.org/"
}