Alcohol and cannabis motives: differences in daily motive endorsement on alcohol, cannabis, and alcohol/cannabis co-use days in a cannabis-using sample

Abstract

Objective

Same day use of alcohol and cannabis is prevalent among emerging/young adults and increases the risk for negative consequences. Although motives for alcohol and cannabis use are well-documented, specific motives on co-use days are under-investigated. We examined differences in motives on single substance use (i.e. alcohol or cannabis) versus co-use days in a sample of primarily cannabis-using emerging/young adults.

Methods

Participants (N = 97) aged 18–25 (M_age = 22.2) were recruited from an urban Emergency Department (55.7% female, 46.4% African American, 57.7% public assistance) for a prospective daily diary study about risk behaviors. Participants received prompts for 28 daily text message assessments (up to 2716 surveys possible) of substance use and motives (social, enhancement, coping, conformity). We divided use days into three groups: alcohol use only (n = 126), cannabis use only (n = 805), and co-use (n = 237). Using fixed effects regression modeling, we fit models to estimate within-person effects of alcohol and cannabis motives on day type (alcohol/cannabis co-use versus single use).

Results

In adjusted models, greater cannabis-related enhancement and social motives were associated with increased likelihood of co-use days compared to cannabis-only days. In contrast, greater alcohol-related social motives were associated with co-use days versus alcohol-only days in unadjusted, but not in adjusted models.

Conclusions

Findings suggest that cannabis use motives associated with increasing positive affect may be most compelling for those engaging in alcohol/cannabis use on a given day. Intervention programs for alcohol/cannabis use should address alcohol and cannabis use motives in relation to increasing positive affect and engaging in social situations.

Keywords:

• Motives
• alcohol
• cannabis
• marijuana
• alcohol and cannabis co-use

Acknowledgments

We would like to thank the staff and patients at Hurley Medical Center.

Disclosure statement

Dr. Arterberry is Vice President of the Source Research Foundation, a nonprofit research organization that supports students studying epidemiology, phenomenology, environmental, cultural, and clinical contexts of psychedelic use. Dr. Arterberry is also a consultant for Innovation Research and Training, a company dedicated to applying scientific findings to real-world problems. Dr. Goldstick, Dr. Walton, Dr. Cunningham, Dr. Blow, and Dr. Bonar have no conflicts of interest to disclose.

Additional information

Funding

This study was funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse [K23 036008]. Dr. Arterberry was supported by a training grant from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism [T32 007477] during her work on this study. Center support was provided by Centers for Disease Control [002099].