Maternal Cannabis Use During a Child's Lifetime Associated With Earlier Initiation

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Adolescent Health
• Substance Use Research

Background:

• Earlier cannabis initiation correlates with adverse neuropsychiatric and social outcomes.
• Increasing cannabis legalization raises concerns about normalizing adult use.

Purpose of the Study:

• To examine the association between maternal cannabis use and the age of cannabis initiation in offspring.
• To identify potential risk factors for early adolescent substance use.

Main Methods:

• Utilized data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979 and Child and Young Adults cohorts (1980-2014).
• Employed Cox proportional hazard models to assess maternal cannabis use's impact on child initiation risk.
• Stratified analyses by race and child's age group (6-16, 17-24, ≥25 years), controlling for sociodemographics.

Main Results:

• Children of mothers who used cannabis initiated use at a median age of 16, versus 18 for children of non-users.
• Maternal cannabis use increased offspring's risk of initiation between ages 6-16 (HR=1.38-1.45, p<0.001).
• The association was slightly stronger in non-Hispanic non-Black children.

Conclusions:

• Maternal cannabis use may serve as a significant risk factor for early offspring cannabis initiation.
• Preventive strategies should target delaying initiation among children of cannabis-using parents.
• Findings are relevant given the expanding legalization of cannabis in the U.S.