High Prevalence of CBD Use among Youths Who Vape

According to a report from The Independent on September 23, a team led by the University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC) recently published a research paper last month. The study, based on a national survey conducted in 2022, found that over one-fifth of young people who have used e-cigarettes in the past month have also used cannabidiol (CBD). This conclusion was published in the medical journal JAMA Network Open.

This is the first time we have observed a significantly high rate of CBD usage among teenagers," stated Daisy Dai, Professor of Biostatistics and Associate Dean of Research at the UNMC College of Public Health.

Since the legalization of hemp production in the 2018 federal Farm Bill, the use of CBD has been steadily increasing. Unlike THC, the psychoactive compound found in marijuana, CBD does not produce a high. The Farm Bill defines hemp as cannabis plants containing 0.3% or less of THC. As a result, CBD is now widely available in various forms, ranging from gummies to tinctures, even in states like Nebraska where marijuana itself is still illegal.

The analysis examined responses from 28,000 middle and high school students from 341 schools to the federal National Youth Tobacco Survey conducted between January and May 2022. Among the nearly 2,500 e-cigarette users, about 21% reported using CBD in the past month. Of the e-cigarette-using teenagers, 6% indicated uncertainty about whether they had used CBD. Hispanic youth were more likely to use CBD compared to non-Hispanic youth.

Lead researcher Dai expressed surprise that so many young individuals who use e-cigarettes are unaware of whether they have consumed CBD. The regulation of labeling is insufficient.

These children are very, very young," Dai said, "and they are heavily influenced by their peers. If their friends hand them an e-cigarette device, they will use it.

Shelby Bingham, Director of the Omaha Metropolitan Tobacco Action Coalition, also expressed concern over the issue of some young people being unaware of whether they have ever used CBD.