Marijuana use among adolescent Asian Americans and Pacific islanders: Analysis of ethnic subgroup and gender differences

Objective: To assess heterogeneity in marijuana use among adolescent Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) subgroups. Methods: AAPI high school students (n = 31,071) participating in the 2019–2020 California Student Tobacco Survey were categorized by race/ethnicity and examined for ever and cur...

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Main Authors: Ting Luo, Christopher M. Anderson, Jijiang Wang, Yue-Lin Zhuang, Shu-Hong Zhu
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2025-04-01
Series:Preventive Medicine Reports
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Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2211335525000555
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author Ting Luo
Christopher M. Anderson
Jijiang Wang
Yue-Lin Zhuang
Shu-Hong Zhu
author_facet Ting Luo
Christopher M. Anderson
Jijiang Wang
Yue-Lin Zhuang
Shu-Hong Zhu
author_sort Ting Luo
collection DOAJ
description Objective: To assess heterogeneity in marijuana use among adolescent Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) subgroups. Methods: AAPI high school students (n = 31,071) participating in the 2019–2020 California Student Tobacco Survey were categorized by race/ethnicity and examined for ever and current (past-30-day) marijuana use. Descriptive statistics were used to describe marijuana use and harm perceptions by subgroups. Multiple logistic regression was used to compare subgroups on marijuana use with other demographics as covariates. Results: Current marijuana use rates by ethnic subgroups were: Chinese 4.2 %, Koreans 4.9 %, Indians 5.2 %, Vietnamese 6.0 %, Hmong 6.4 %, Pakistanis 6.6 %, Japanese 9.4 %, Filipinos 9.6 %, Cambodians 17.9 %, other monoethnic Asians 10.5 %, and Pacific Islanders 22.3 %. Current use rates for monoethnic, multiethnic, and multiracial AAPIs were 7.3 %, 9.1 %, and 18.5 %, respectively, with multiracial AAPIs using at a higher rate than monoethnic and multiethnic AAPIs (both p's < 0.001). Among AAPIs overall, 11.3 % currently used marijuana. Females currently used at a higher rate than males, 10.8 % vs. 9.6 % (p = .011). Ever and current marijuana use were negatively correlated with perceptions that everyday and occasional use is harmful (all p's < 0.001). Compared to Chinese students, all subgroups except Koreans and Pakistanis were more likely to use marijuana (all p's < 0.05), with Filipinos, Japanese, Cambodians, and Pacific Islanders more than twice as likely (all p's < 0.001). Conclusions: There was substantial heterogeneity in marijuana use rates among ethnic subgroups of AAPI adolescents. Several AAPI subgroups used marijuana at elevated rates. Gender-based trendlines among AAPI adolescents have crossed.
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spelling doaj-art-9f0da2d4d0784e81a02fbeb65e6730692025-08-20T02:50:45ZengElsevierPreventive Medicine Reports2211-33552025-04-015210301610.1016/j.pmedr.2025.103016Marijuana use among adolescent Asian Americans and Pacific islanders: Analysis of ethnic subgroup and gender differencesTing Luo0Christopher M. Anderson1Jijiang Wang2Yue-Lin Zhuang3Shu-Hong Zhu4The Herbert Wertheim School of Public Health and Human Longevity Science, University of California San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive #0905, La Jolla, California, USAMoores Cancer Center, University of California San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive #0905, La Jolla, California, USAMoores Cancer Center, University of California San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive #0905, La Jolla, California, USAMoores Cancer Center, University of California San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive #0905, La Jolla, California, USAThe Herbert Wertheim School of Public Health and Human Longevity Science, University of California San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive #0905, La Jolla, California, USA; Moores Cancer Center, University of California San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive #0905, La Jolla, California, USA; Corresponding author at: The Herbert Wertheim School of Public Health and Human Longevity Science, University of California San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive #0905, La Jolla, California, USA.Objective: To assess heterogeneity in marijuana use among adolescent Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) subgroups. Methods: AAPI high school students (n = 31,071) participating in the 2019–2020 California Student Tobacco Survey were categorized by race/ethnicity and examined for ever and current (past-30-day) marijuana use. Descriptive statistics were used to describe marijuana use and harm perceptions by subgroups. Multiple logistic regression was used to compare subgroups on marijuana use with other demographics as covariates. Results: Current marijuana use rates by ethnic subgroups were: Chinese 4.2 %, Koreans 4.9 %, Indians 5.2 %, Vietnamese 6.0 %, Hmong 6.4 %, Pakistanis 6.6 %, Japanese 9.4 %, Filipinos 9.6 %, Cambodians 17.9 %, other monoethnic Asians 10.5 %, and Pacific Islanders 22.3 %. Current use rates for monoethnic, multiethnic, and multiracial AAPIs were 7.3 %, 9.1 %, and 18.5 %, respectively, with multiracial AAPIs using at a higher rate than monoethnic and multiethnic AAPIs (both p's < 0.001). Among AAPIs overall, 11.3 % currently used marijuana. Females currently used at a higher rate than males, 10.8 % vs. 9.6 % (p = .011). Ever and current marijuana use were negatively correlated with perceptions that everyday and occasional use is harmful (all p's < 0.001). Compared to Chinese students, all subgroups except Koreans and Pakistanis were more likely to use marijuana (all p's < 0.05), with Filipinos, Japanese, Cambodians, and Pacific Islanders more than twice as likely (all p's < 0.001). Conclusions: There was substantial heterogeneity in marijuana use rates among ethnic subgroups of AAPI adolescents. Several AAPI subgroups used marijuana at elevated rates. Gender-based trendlines among AAPI adolescents have crossed.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2211335525000555MarijuanaSubstance useAsian AmericanAdolescenceDisaggregationGender
spellingShingle Ting Luo
Christopher M. Anderson
Jijiang Wang
Yue-Lin Zhuang
Shu-Hong Zhu
Marijuana use among adolescent Asian Americans and Pacific islanders: Analysis of ethnic subgroup and gender differences
Preventive Medicine Reports
Marijuana
Substance use
Asian American
Adolescence
Disaggregation
Gender
title Marijuana use among adolescent Asian Americans and Pacific islanders: Analysis of ethnic subgroup and gender differences
title_full Marijuana use among adolescent Asian Americans and Pacific islanders: Analysis of ethnic subgroup and gender differences
title_fullStr Marijuana use among adolescent Asian Americans and Pacific islanders: Analysis of ethnic subgroup and gender differences
title_full_unstemmed Marijuana use among adolescent Asian Americans and Pacific islanders: Analysis of ethnic subgroup and gender differences
title_short Marijuana use among adolescent Asian Americans and Pacific islanders: Analysis of ethnic subgroup and gender differences
title_sort marijuana use among adolescent asian americans and pacific islanders analysis of ethnic subgroup and gender differences
topic Marijuana
Substance use
Asian American
Adolescence
Disaggregation
Gender
url http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2211335525000555
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