Patterns of Cannabis Consumption and Cannabis Use Disorder Risk Among Young Adult Mothers in the Herbal Heart Study

Kayla Hearon
University of Miami

Background: Young adult mothers may use cannabis for symptom management, recreation, or both, yet patterns of consumption and risk for cannabis use disorder (CUD) are poorly characterized in this population. Understanding product type, route, potency, and CUD may help inform harm-reduction approaches.

Objective: To describe cannabis use behaviors and the risk of CUD among women with children enrolled in the Herbal Heart Study.

Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional analysis of Herbal Heart Study participants who reported female sex and answered “yes” to having children (mothers). Sociodemographics and cannabis-use patterns were assessed by self-report. Cannabis route, strain, and potency were measured using items from the Cannabis Potency Questionnaire, and CUD risk was assessed using the Cannabis Use Disorders Identification Test–Revised (CUDIT-R). Regular cannabis use was defined as self-reported use at least once a week for the past year. Descriptive statistics were calculated using SAS University Edition. Results are presented for the full maternal sample and, where applicable, for regular cannabis consumers and participants with complete CUDIT-R data.

Results: The analytic sample included 22 mothers; median age was 32.5 years (interquartile range: 29–34), with children ranging in age from 1 to 17 years. Most (77.3%; n=17) mothers in our sample were regular cannabis consumers, 22.7% were non-consumers. Overall, 72.7% of mothers in our sample were Hispanic/Latino. Among nonconsumers, 80.0% were Hispanic and 20.0% were non-Hispanic-other; 70.6% of cannabis-consumers were Hispanic, 17.7% non-Hispanic Black, and 11.8% non-Hispanic White (p=0.36). The most common routes of cannabis use were blunts (41.2%) and joints (41.2%), followed by vaping (17.7%). Most (82.3%) cannabis-consumers reported use of mid-grade potency cannabis; 17.7% reported regular potency, and none reported high-grade potency. Hybrid strains were most common (52.9%), followed by sativa (29.4%), indica (11.8%), and unknown (5.9%). Overall, 35.3% reported receiving a medical cannabis recommendation, most commonly for anxiety (23.5%), pain (17.6%), PTSD (11.8%), and depression (5.9%). Among the cannabis-consumers with CUDIT-R data, 69.2% screened positive for possible CUD, 15.4% for hazardous use, and 15.4% for nonhazardous use. Possible CUD was identified among 100% of joint and vape consumers with complete data, compared with 33.3% of blunt consumers.

Conclusions: In this small sample of young adult mothers, cannabis use was characterized primarily by combustible routes, mid-grade potency products, and a high prevalence of possible CUD. Findings support integrating CUD screening and harm-reduction counseling into care for reproductive-age women and mothers.