Race/Ethnicity Differences in Trends of Marijuana, Cigarette, and Alcohol Use Among 8th, 10th, and 12th Graders in Washington State, 2004–2016

Johnson, Renee M.; Fleming, Charles B.; Cambron, Christopher; Dean, Lorraine T.; Brighthaupt, Sherri-Chanelle; Guttmannova, Katarina

doi:10.1007/s11121-018-0899-0

Published: 10 April 2018

Race/Ethnicity Differences in Trends of Marijuana, Cigarette, and Alcohol Use Among 8th, 10th, and 12th Graders in Washington State, 2004–2016

Renee M. Johnson^1,2,
Charles B. Fleming³,
Christopher Cambron^4,5,
Lorraine T. Dean²,
Sherri-Chanelle Brighthaupt¹ &
Katarina Guttmannova³

Prevention Science volume 20, pages 194–204 (2019)Cite this article

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Abstract

Accurate estimates of substance use in the teenage years by race/ethnicity may help identify when to intervene to prevent long-term substance use disparities. We examined trends in past 30-day use of marijuana, cigarette, and alcohol among 8th, 10th, and 12th graders in Washington State, which passed a recreational marijuana law in 2012 and initiated retail marijuana sales in 2014. Data are from the 2004–2016 Washington Healthy Youth Surveys (n = 161,992). We used time series regression models to assess linear and quadratic trends in substance use for the full sample and stratified on race/ethnicity and grade level and examined relative differences in prevalence of use by race/ethnicity. In Washington, across all racial/ethnic groups, marijuana use peaked in 2012. Although there was not a significant overall change in marijuana use for the full sample across the study period, there was a statistically significant increase in use among 12th graders and a statistically significant decrease among 8th graders. Relative to Whites, Asians had a lower prevalence of marijuana use, whereas all other race/ethnicity groups had a higher prevalence of use. Prevalence of marijuana use is particularly high among American Indian/Alaska Native and Black youth and has increased most rapidly among 12th grade Hispanic/Latinx youth. There were large and statistically significant decreases in alcohol and cigarette use across the study period for the full sample, as well as for each race/ethnicity group. These findings highlight the need for continued monitoring of trends in use among these groups and potentially warrant consideration of selective interventions that specifically focus on students of color and that include developmentally-appropriate strategies relevant to each grade.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank the Washington State Healthy Youth Survey participants and the Washington State Department of Health survey administration. Neither DHS nor any of the sponsors had a role in determining study design; data collection, analysis, or interpretation; writing the report; or the decision to submit the report for publication.

Funding

This work was supported by several National Institutes of Health grants (R21DA037341, Guttmannova, Fleming, Cambron; T32HD007543, Cambron; K01DA031738, Johnson; T32DA007292, Brighthaupt; K01CA184288, P30CA006973, P30AI094189, R25MH083620, Dean). The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily reflect the official views of the NIH.

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Department of Mental Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, 624 North Broadway, 8th Floor, Room 898, Baltimore, MD, 21205-1999, USA
Renee M. Johnson & Sherri-Chanelle Brighthaupt
Department of Epidemiology, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, USA
Renee M. Johnson & Lorraine T. Dean
Center for the Study of Health and Risk Behaviors, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, School of Medicine, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
Charles B. Fleming & Katarina Guttmannova
School of Social Work, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
Christopher Cambron
Huntsman Cancer Institute, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, USA
Christopher Cambron

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Renee M. Johnson
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Charles B. Fleming
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Christopher Cambron
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Lorraine T. Dean
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Sherri-Chanelle Brighthaupt
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Katarina Guttmannova
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Correspondence to Renee M. Johnson.

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Johnson, R.M., Fleming, C.B., Cambron, C. et al. Race/Ethnicity Differences in Trends of Marijuana, Cigarette, and Alcohol Use Among 8th, 10th, and 12th Graders in Washington State, 2004–2016. Prev Sci 20, 194–204 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11121-018-0899-0

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Published: 10 April 2018
Issue Date: 15 February 2019
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11121-018-0899-0

Keywords

Adolescent
Substance use
Alcohol
Smoking
Marijuana/cannabis
Policy