Marijuana sources in a medical marijuana environment: dynamics in access and use among a cohort of young adults in Los Angeles, California

Abstract

While a range of sources exist for marijuana users to acquire marijuana for medical or personal use, prior research on marijuana sources primarily focused on single sources. In this analysis, we longitudinally examined characteristics of multiple sources selected by marijuana users, motivations to use sources, and how a blend of marijuana sources accommodated users’ needs. Young adult marijuana users (n = 60) in Los Angeles, CA, where marijuana has been legal for medical use since 1996, completed two annual qualitative interviews on marijuana use practices and sources between 2014 and 2016. Approximately two-thirds were medical marijuana patients and one-third was non-patient users. Participants reported acquiring marijuana from the following primary sources across two interviews: dispensaries and delivery services, private sellers in the illicit market, friends and family, and marijuana events/conferences. While patients with legal medical access to marijuana typically purchased marijuana from dispensaries or delivery services, they often supplemented from other illicit sources. Non-patients often accessed marijuana through dispensary diversion but also other sources. As patients became non-patients and vice versa during the study period, source type changed too. Broad access to marijuana via legal and illicit sources in this sample is indicative of societal trends towards normalization of marijuana use.

Keywords:

• Cannabis
• marijuana sources
• medical marijuana
• young adults
• qualitative research

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to acknowledge the following individuals who supported the development of this manuscript: Miles McNeely, Meghan Treese, Ali Johnson, Chaka Dodson, Maral Shahinian, and Sheree M. Schrager. Also, we could like to acknowledge input provided by our Community Advisory Board.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This study was supported financially by the National Institute on Drug Abuse [DA034067].