Center for Alcohol and Addiction Studies, Brown University School of Public Health, Providence, Rhode Island.
Department of Behavioral and Social Sciences, Brown University School of Public Heath, Providence, Rhode Island.
J Stud Alcohol Drugs. 2019 Jan;80(1):56-62. doi: 10.15288/jsad.2019.80.56.
Vaporization of marijuana products, or "vaping," has become a prevalent mode of administration and is typically perceived to hold unique benefits compared to combustible administration methods. Such positive beliefs regarding marijuana vaporization may contribute to its abuse liability. This qualitative study examined cognitions pertaining to vaping among recreational marijuana users.
Focus groups were conducted with frequent marijuana users (N = 31; five groups; six to seven per group; M = 5.0 days/week marijuana use). Three topic areas were queried during discussions with the goal of revealing factors that may contribute to the abuse liability of vaporization. These comprised differences between smoking and vaporizing marijuana products, perceived advantages of vaporization, and perceived disadvantages of vaporization. Focus groups lasted approximately 60 minutes and followed a semistructured agenda; the sessions were audio recorded and transcribed for an applied thematic analysis. An executive summary of each group was made and key themes pertaining to vaporization were summarized.
Several themes emerged, including differences between smoking and vaporizing marijuana, convenience, discretion, and efficiency of vaping, perceived health benefits, the absence of traditional smoking rituals, and the high cost of vaporization devices.
Several factors appear to promote marijuana vaporization, including device aspects (e.g., discreet, convenient), the subjective high, economical efficiency, and perceived harm-reducing and health-promoting effects. These qualitative data highlight unique cognitions about marijuana vaping that may substantially increase its abuse liability. Quantitative research is needed to examine the extent to which cognitions about marijuana vaporization contribute to actual use patterns and problematic behaviors.
大麻制品的蒸发，或“蒸气”，已成为一种流行的给药方式，与可燃给药方法相比，通常被认为具有独特的优势。这种对大麻蒸气的积极看法可能会增加其滥用的可能性。这项定性研究考察了娱乐性大麻使用者对蒸气的认知。
对经常使用大麻的人（N = 31；五组；每组六到七人；M = 5.0 天/周大麻使用）进行了焦点小组讨论。在讨论中询问了三个主题领域，目的是揭示可能导致蒸气滥用的因素。这些因素包括吸烟和蒸气大麻产品之间的差异、蒸气的感知优势以及蒸气的感知劣势。焦点小组持续约 60 分钟，遵循半结构化议程；会议进行了录音并转录，以便进行应用主题分析。每个小组都有一份执行摘要，并总结了与蒸气有关的主要主题。
出现了几个主题，包括吸烟和蒸气大麻之间的差异、便利性、谨慎性和蒸气效率、感知健康益处、没有传统的吸烟仪式以及蒸气设备的高成本。
似乎有几个因素促进了大麻蒸气，包括设备方面（例如，谨慎、方便）、主观高、经济效率以及感知的减少伤害和促进健康的效果。这些定性数据突出了大麻蒸气的独特认知，这可能大大增加其滥用的可能性。需要进行定量研究，以检查对大麻蒸气的认知在多大程度上导致了实际的使用模式和问题行为。
