Associations between simultaneous use of alcohol and cannabis and cannabis-related problems in 2014–2016: evidence from the Washington panel survey

Background To address the research question of how simultaneous users of alcohol and cannabis differ from concurrent users in risk of cannabis use problems after the recreational marijuana legalization in Washington State. Methods We used generalized estimating equations with a Poisson distribution to analyze the association between simultaneous use of alcohol and marijuana (SAM) and cannabis-related problems compared to concurrent use. The data is a longitudinal sample of drinkers and cannabis users ( n = 257, 47% female) aged 18 years and older from Washington State in 2014–2016. We adjusted for survey weights to account for differential probability of selection and response rates. The primary outcome is the past-six-month CUDIT problem subscale (ranging from 0 to 28), which is the total score for seven CUDIT problem items, after excluding the three items that covered marijuana use frequency. Covariates include marijuana use frequency (daily/near daily use, regular use, or infrequent use), marijuana daily quantity, alcohol daily volume, panel survey cycle, medical marijuana recommendation, driving time to nearest marijuana outlet, age of marijuana use onset, and other demographics. Results After adjusting for covariates, we found that compared to concurrent use, SAM was significantly positively associated with CUDIT problem subscale (IRR = 1.68, 95% CI: 1.25–2.27, p < 0.001); daily/near daily use of marijuana was strongly significantly associated with CUDIT problem subscale compared with infrequent use (IRR = 5.1, 2.71–9.57, p < 0.001) or regular use (IRR = 3.05, 1.91–4.85, p < 0.001). Secondary analyses using CUDIT total score as the outcome also showed a significant positive association with SAM compared to concurrent use (IRR = 1.17, 1.02–1.34, p < 0.05). Conclusions This study highlighted the importance of SAM, in addition to cannabis use frequency for predicting cannabis-related problems.