The changing demographic of blunt smokers across birth cohorts

It has been suggested that African-American males, born in the 1970s, initiated the practice of smoking blunts during the rise of the hip-hop subculture in the 1990s. The objective of this study was to determine if other racial/ethnic groups from more recent birth cohorts adopted the practice as well.

Data from seven cross-sectional surveys, the 2004-2010 National Surveys on Drug Use and Health, were aggregated for constructing six five-year birth cohorts (n=297,478), starting with the 1970-1974 cohort. Age-stratified regression models were then developed to test the effect of the interaction between race/ethnicity and birth cohort on the past-year use of blunts.

Fewer differences in the prevalence of past-year blunt smoking were observed between African-Americans and other racial/ethnic groups from more recent birth cohorts. Statistically significant interaction terms in age-stratified models indicated that relative to African-Americans, the odds ratios of blunt smoking were greater in Caucasians and Hispanics born in the1980s compared to those born in the late 1970s. These results were replicated when the sample was limited to past-year cannabis users (n=61,038).

African-Americans, who likely initiated blunt smoking as adolescents/young adults in the 1990s, continued the practice into adulthood. As characterized by other drug eras, the drug became popular over time and expanded into other demographic groups. The additional exposure to tobacco should alert tobacco-control advocates about blunt smokers' risk of developing nicotine dependence.