By Mallory Mattingly
A recent study found that teens who view cannabis and e-cigarette posts on social media are at risk.
The Keck School of Medicine at USC surveyed two large California high schools and found “that teens who saw cannabis and e-cigarette content were more likely to start using those substances or to have used them in the past month.”
“While the rate of e-cigarette use is declining, our study shows that exposure to e-cigarette content on social media still contributes to the risk of using e-cigarettes with other substances, like cannabis,” said Julia Vassey, PhD, a health behavior researcher in the Department of Population and Public Health Sciences at the Keck School of Medicine.
The JAMA Network Open explained viewing posts from both friends and influencers resulted in solo e-cigarette (vape) use and solo cannabis use, as well as dual use. Medical Xpress said that “Dual use refers to youth who have used both cannabis and e-cigarettes at some point.”
Teens see these posts on Instagram, Snapchat and X, but TikTok content about vapes and/or cannabis pose a greater risk.
“This is consistent with previous research showing that, of the three platforms, TikTok is probably the strongest risk factor for substance use,” Vassey said.
Influencer content raises a special danger because “they often slip through loopholes in federal rules and platform guidelines.”
“For example, the FDA can only regulate content when brand partnerships are disclosed, but influencers — consciously or not — may skip disclosures in some posts,” the Keck School of Medicine said. “Studies show that these seemingly unsponsored posts are seen as more authentic…making them particularly influential.”
Thus, researchers advise that “since exposure to e-cigarette or cannabis posts may contribute to adolescent e-cigarette, cannabis, or dual use, improvement of social media community guidelines and greater policy attention to co-use and marketing of e-cigarettes and cannabis may help prevent youth substance use.”
“Answering these questions can help federal regulators and social media platforms create guidelines geared toward preventing youth substance use,” Vassey said.
While there are accounts promoting the use of these substances, others post warnings about the dangers of vapes and cannabis that teens might not be aware of.
Related: ABC News Equates Social Media Use to Tobacco Addiction
“E-cigarettes contain harmful chemicals such as nicotine and glycerol, which may cause skin irritation and inflammation. The chemicals can trigger skin flare ups and compromise the skin barrier function. Nicotine can also exacerbate the severity and treatment efficacy for patients suffering from atopic dermatitis,” Ronda Rand, MD, shared on Instagram.
Like all things on social media, parents and their teens must pay attention to how certain kinds of content impact their decisions and habits.
Read Next: Actress Laura Benanti Calls Social Media ‘Poison’: ‘Really Unhealthy’
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