Differences in cannabis strains and product types used most often by a cross-sectional sample of people in the United States who use cannabis to relieve pain and nausea
Author
Sabatino, Devin W
Access
This item will be available on: 2025-05-01
Abstract
In the United States (US), 17% of people reported using cannabis within the past year. Laws around cannabis use in the US are changing; currently, 37 states and the District of Columbia have legalized cannabis for medicinal use. With policy change has come a proliferation of cannabis product types available for sale. The current landscape of cannabis products includes flower, vapes, dabs, edibles, oils/tinctures, and lotions/topicals. In addition to the different product types, cannabis is marketed and sold based on three main strain categories: sativa, indica, and hybrids. While there are studies on products used for recreational use, little is known about products used primarily for medicinal use. The objective of our study was to assess difference in strains (e.g., indica, sativa, etc.) and product types (e.g., edibles, vapes, etc.) used most often by people who use cannabis to relieve pain and nausea. To examine our objective, we conducted a cross-sectional, web-based survey using Qualtrics panels in December of 2021. For the analysis, we restricted the sample to participants who endorsed cannabis use within the last 30 days [n=920]. We assessed 18 different motives for using cannabis products, including to treat pain and nausea. Motives were assessed on a three-point scale: “all/most of the time,” “sometimes,” or “never.” We used descriptive statistics to examine which product types and strains the full sample and participants who endorsed the use of cannabis for pain or nausea preferred. We found that 48.7% always used cannabis to treat pain and 32.0% always used cannabis to treat nausea. The top three product types used by people who reported using cannabis to treat pain and nausea were bud/flower (42.7% and 51.7%, respectively), pre-rolls (13.4% and 13.5%), and vapes (13.8% and 12.2%). There were no differences in preferred product types between people who use cannabis to treat pain and recreational-only users. There was a difference between nausea and recreational-only users with recreational-only users preferring edibles over pre-rolls. Hybrid strains were the most popular strain endorsed by participants to treat pain (36.6%) and nausea (35.4%) most/all the time. People who do not use cannabis for pain are most likely to use sativa. These findings provide insight into the preferred cannabis product types and strains among people who always use cannabis to manage pain and/or nausea.
Subject
Date
2023-05-04
Citation:
APA:
Sabatino, Devin W.
(May 2023).
Differences in cannabis strains and product types used most often by a cross-sectional sample of people in the United States who use cannabis to relieve pain and nausea
(Honors Thesis, East Carolina University). Retrieved from the Scholarship.
(http://hdl.handle.net/10342/13080.)
MLA:
Sabatino, Devin W.
Differences in cannabis strains and product types used most often by a cross-sectional sample of people in the United States who use cannabis to relieve pain and nausea.
Honors Thesis. East Carolina University,
May 2023. The Scholarship.
http://hdl.handle.net/10342/13080.
May 04, 2024.
Chicago:
Sabatino, Devin W,
“Differences in cannabis strains and product types used most often by a cross-sectional sample of people in the United States who use cannabis to relieve pain and nausea”
(Honors Thesis., East Carolina University,
May 2023).
AMA:
Sabatino, Devin W.
Differences in cannabis strains and product types used most often by a cross-sectional sample of people in the United States who use cannabis to relieve pain and nausea
[Honors Thesis]. Greenville, NC: East Carolina University;
May 2023.
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Publisher
East Carolina University