Synthetic Cannabinoids: Use and Predictors in a Community Sample of Young Adults

ABSTRACT

Background: Synthetic cannabinoids (SCs) are a class of drugs of abuse with deleterious consequences. Despite governmental regulations related to distribution and sale, SC variants are still available online. More research is needed to determine SC use prevalence and factors associated with SC use, especially among young adults. Methods: One thousand eighty individuals, 18–25 years old, were surveyed, between January 2012 and July 2013, during recruitment for a randomized controlled trial investigating health behaviors in young adults. Advertisements were placed online and in community locations seeking individuals “who had recently used marijuana or alcohol.” Respondents were queried about their use of alcohol and drugs, including SCs, in the last month. Results: Participants averaged 21.4 years old and were 53.4% male. Nearly 59% were non-Hispanic white, 15% were African American, 15% were Hispanic, and 11% identified as other. Approximately 9% reported SC use in the last month, a level higher than the reported use of opioids, cocaine, or hallucinogens. SC use was significantly associated with male gender, not being enrolled in school, and with use of cigarettes, binge alcohol drinking, daily and weekly marijuana use, and other drugs of abuse. There was a significant decrease in SC use after the federal ban in July 2012. Conclusions: SC use was common in the past month and often overlaps with other drug use, particularly marijuana use, and should be asked about during clinical encounters with young adults.

Keywords:

• Community sample
• Spice
• synthetic cannabinoids
• young adults

AUTHOR CONTRIBUTIONS

Author Caviness is the study project manager and wrote the first draft of the manuscript. Author Tzilos helped with the initial manuscript conception, first draft, and all subsequent revisions. Author Anderson ran the statistical analyses. Author Stein is the principal investigator. He was involved in the initial manuscript conception and all manuscript revisions.

Funding

This study was supported by National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) grant R01AA020509. Dr. Stein is a recipient of National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) award K24 DA000512. Trial registered at clinicaltrials.gov; Clinical Trial No. NCT01473719. The NIAAA and NIDA had no further role in study design; in the collection, analysis, and interpretation of data; in the writing of the report; or in the decision to submit the paper for publication. The authors report no conflicts of interest.