ASSOCIATION BETWEEN ALCOHOL, CANNABIS, AND E-CIGARETTES HABITS PRE AND POST SOCIAL DISTANCING

Abstract

This essay examines association between alcohol use, cannabis, and e-cig use among individuals before and after the COVID-19 social distancing orders. Data was collected through a national sample of individuals using online data collection strategies (e.g., Facebook, Instagram). In order to be eligible for this study, participants needed to be above the age of 18. This sample included 497 individuals, with an average age of participants being 27 years. The majority of the sample included males, with 60% of the participants reportedly males, 38% reportedly female, 0.41% intersex, and 0.8% who preferred not to answer. The participants vary greatly with education status, with 18% of participants not completing high school, 34% graduating high school or completing a GED, 18% finishing some college or tech school, 14% graduating from college, and 11% who attended masters or graduate schools. Through analyzing this dataset, the patterns of usage for alcohol, cannabis, and e-cigarette use could be noticed amongst different levels of frequency. Amongst all the frequencies, an average of 44% consumed alcohol before COVID-19 and 45% after social distancing orders, while 13% reportedly never used alcohol prior to COVID-19 and 11% never used alcohol after the social distancing orders. As for e-cigarette usage, amongst all the frequencies, an average of 29% consumed e-cigarettes before COVID-19 and 25% after social distancing orders, while 14% reportedly never used e-cigarettes prior to COVID-19 and 14% never used e-cigarettes after the social distancing orders. For cannabis usage, amongst all the frequencies, an average of 30% consumed cannabis before COVID-19 and slightly over 30% after social distancing orders, while 11% reportedly never used cannabis prior to COVID-19 and 9% never used cannabis after the social distancing orders. The influence alcohol has on smoking habits was also interpreted through determining the association between participants usage of both alcohol and cannabis as well as alcohol and e-cigarettes. Although an association was assessed, it is difficult to determine the actual affect alcohol consumption had on cannabis and e-cigarette usage due to a lack of data on the exact influence. Across the board, COVID-19 seemed to generally increase usage of alcohol, and cannabis, with an overall increase in alcohol usage by 5% and an increase of 8% by cannabis users.An association between alcohol consumption and smoking habits was also observed, with 50% of people consuming both alcohol and e-cigarettes and 58% of people consuming both alcohol and cannabis.