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A study led by CUNY SPH researchers found asthma to be more common among high school students who use cannabis, even after adjusting for cigarette use and other risk factors.
The research team, which included doctoral student Kevin Silverman and Distinguished Professors Renee Goodwin and Luisa N. Borrell, used data from the CDC’s Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System, a survey conducted twice a year among U.S. high school students. A total of 130,136 high school students were included in the analysis, in which 25,578 had past 30-day cannabis use.
Cannabis use was more common among female users than male users (17% vs 14%), and non-Hispanic Black (17%) and Hispanic (16%) students compared with non-Hispanic White (14.6%) students, respectively. Additionally, cannabis use was more common among students who reported any past 30-day cigarette or alcohol use than non-users (45% vs 6.5%). Overall, the prevalence of asthma increased with the frequency of cannabis use among the students.
“The findings of this study have important implications for public health, education, and drug prevention programs targeting high school students although more public health and clinical research is needed,” says Goodwin. “Scientific data that can inform clinical guidelines and public health policy, as well as parents and youth, on the potential relationship between cannabis use and respiratory health among youth, is critical and we urge that more studies like this one be a priority.”
