Cannabis Use Among Female Community College Students Who Use Alcohol in a State With and a State Without Nonmedical Cannabis Legalization in the US.

INTRODUCTION: Female community college students who use alcohol may be an at-risk group for cannabis use, especially in US states with nonmedical cannabis legalization. This study examined cannabis use among this population. We tested differences in current cannabis use across a state with versus a state without (Washington vs Wisconsin, respectively) nonmedical cannabis legalization. METHODS: This cross-sectional study included female students aged 18-29 who were current alcohol users attending a community college. An online survey assessed lifetime and current cannabis use (last 60 days) via the Customary Drinking and Drug Use Record. Logistic regression tested whether community college state and demographic characteristics were associated with current cannabis use. RESULTS: Among 148 participants, 75.0% (n = 111) reported lifetime cannabis use. The majority of participants from Washington (81.1%, n = 77) and Wisconsin (64.2%, n = 34) reported ever trying cannabis. Almost half of participants (45.3%, n = 67) indicated current cannabis use. Among Washington participants, 57.9% (n = 55) reported current use compared to 22.6% (n = 12) of Wisconsin participants. Washington school attendance was positively associated with current cannabis use (OR = 5.97; 95% CI, 2.50-14.28, P < 0.001), after controlling for age, race, ethnicity, grade point average, and income. CONCLUSIONS: High cannabis use in this sample of female drinkers - particularly in a state with nonmedical cannabis legalization - underscores the need for prevention and intervention efforts targeted to community college students.

Adolescent and parent emotions and perceptions regarding news media stories about bullying: A qualitative study.

News articles covering bullying have often focused on tragic situations. The purpose of this study was to understand adolescents' and parents' emotions and perceptions related to bullying news media coverage. Participants were recruited as adolescent-parent dyads from pediatric clinics. During qualitative interviews, participants read and commented on two news article excerpts: 1) a tragic 'fear-based' individual bullying news story; 2) a public health-oriented bullying news story. Qualitative analysis used the constant comparative approach. Our 50 participants included 25 adolescents with mean age 16.1 years (SD=0.97), 44% female and 72% Caucasian, and 25 parents with mean age 49.2 (SD=6.7) years, 80% female and 76% Caucasian. After reading the fear-based news excerpt, 19 adolescents (76%) and 18 parents (72%) responded that they felt negatively. For the public health-oriented excerpt, 12 adolescents (48%) and 20 parents (80%) felt positively. Further, over half of participants felt the news articles related to their lived experiences. Our data support that fear-based articles were associated with feeling sadness and hopelessness while public health-oriented news articles contributed to positive feelings and perceptions. This finding supports the potential of news media about bullying to serve as a venue for education or empowerment for families.