Challenges and Insights of Cannabis Vaping Among Sexual Minority Individuals: Commentary on Maglalang et al. (2024).

BACKGROUND

This commentary focuses on assessment challenges of cannabis vaping and the need to expand the Minority Stress Theory (MST) to understand the elevated levels of cannabis vaping among sexual minority individuals. These topics are discussed as a commentary on Maglalang et. al (2024), who examined two novel measurements of cannabis vaping (i.e. recency and number of puffs). Our commentary provides an overview of relevant literature and future directions for cannabis vaping research among sexual minority individuals.

RESULTS

Elevated rates of cannabis vaping among sexual minority individuals are concerning given the elevated THC potency and greater frequency of product use, associated health concerns, and sexual minority individuals' access to health care. The existing body of literature has focused heavily on MST to explain substance use among sexual minority individuals. MST fails to consider several contextual factors (e.g. location and companions) and situational motives (situation or environment-dependent), creating a narrow lens of sexual minority individuals' use of cannabis vapes, as well as other substances.

CONCLUSIONS

This commentary underscores the growing frequency of cannabis vaping among sexual minority individuals, as reported by Maglalang et al. (2024), and the various challenges accompanied in attempts to quantify cannabis vape use frequency and quantity. In addition, the authors suggest expanding research beyond the MST to explore a more diverse set of factors influencing cannabis vape use among sexual minority individuals.