Cannabis as a shareable commodity in a social discounting task.

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Neuroscience
• Public Health

Background:

• Cannabis use and cannabis use disorder diagnoses are rising among US college students.
• Previous research linked cannabis use to higher delay discount rates, suggesting impulsivity.
• Cannabis legalization is associated with increased use and potential for problematic use.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate if social discounting of hypothetical marijuana varies by cannabis use status (current, former, never).
• To assess the role of social distance in valuing cannabis.
• To explore a novel measure for cannabis value and its relation to cannabis use disorder.

Main Methods:

• Two independent datasets of college students were analyzed.
• Participants' cannabis use history (current, former, never) was recorded.
• A modified delay discounting task measured willingness to share hypothetical marijuana across varying social distances.

Main Results:

• Current cannabis users were significantly less likely to share hypothetical marijuana than never users.
• No significant difference was found between former and current cannabis users.
• A medium effect size (η² ≥ 0.10) was observed, consistent across datasets.

Conclusions:

• Social distance is a relevant factor in assessing cannabis value among college students.
• Modified discounting tasks can differentiate cannabis value and may predict problematic use.
• Findings suggest potential clinical applications for identifying individuals at risk for cannabis dependence.