Comparing Smokable and Oral Concentrate Users in Florida’s Medical Marijuana Program

Ryan Kalina
University of Florida

Co-authors: Juan Perez¹, Catalina Lopez-Quintero¹, Krishna Vaddiparti¹, Yan Wang¹, Donald Porchia¹, Robert L. Cook^1
1University of Florida

Background: Cannabis concentrate use is increasingly common among medical patients, yet little is known about how demographic characteristics, reasons for use, and behavioral patterns differ between adults who use smokable versus oral concentrate products. Describing these route-specific patterns can support more informed clinical approaches and improve understanding of how patients use high-potency cannabis products.

Objective: To compare demographic profiles, reasons for use, patterns of use, and cannabis-related risk between adults who use smokable concentrates and those who use oral concentrates.

Methods: Data was used from the Medical Marijuana & Me (M3) Current User Survey, a cross-sectional survey of adults using medical cannabis products in Florida. The analytic sample included 77 oral concentrate users and 188 smokable concentrate users. This sample does not include users who used both. Variables included demographics, primary reasons for use, daily frequency of use, and cannabis-related risk measured via the Cannabis Use Disorder Identification Test-Revised (CUDIT-R) where scores ≥12 indicate high‑risk use. Descriptive statistics and proportional comparisons were used to summarize group differences. 

Results: Smokable concentrate users were younger (40.4 vs. 45.2 years), more racially diverse (67.6% White vs 80.5% White), and more commonly employed full-time (49.5% vs. 41.6%), while oral users were more likely to be female (68.8% vs. 59.6%) and report disability or inability to work (22.1% vs. 15.1%). Reasons for use differed by route: smokable users more frequently endorsed anxiety (70.2% vs. 58.4%), depression (49.5% vs. 39.0%), PTSD (47.3% vs. 33.8%), insomnia (44.7% vs. 37.7%), and migraine/headache (27.7% vs. 16.9%). Oral users more often reported chronic pain (49.4% vs. 42.6%) and fibromyalgia (13.0% vs. 7.4%). Smokable users showed slightly higher cannabis-related risk: 21.3% scored in the high-risk CUDIT-R category compared to 18.2% of oral users. Patterns of use also differed: 81.8% of oral users consumed concentrates once daily, whereas smokable users reported multi‑session daily use, including 33.9% once daily, 20.4% twice daily, and 17.7% three times daily.

Conclusion: Route of concentrate use is associated with different demographic, behavioral, and reason for use profiles. Smokable concentrate users tend to be younger, more frequent consumers with modestly elevated cannabis-related risk, while oral users are older, more female, and more likely to use concentrates in stable once-daily patterns. These findings highlight meaningful route specific differences in concentrate use among Florida medical cannabis patients and provide a clearer understanding of how patients engage with high potency cannabis products.