Marijuana use and adherence to smoking cessation treatment among callers to tobacco quitlines

Abstract

Introduction Tobacco kills over half a million adults annually in the United States. Most smokers want to quit, and over 400,000 call statefunded quitlines for help each year. Marijuana use among tobacco users is common and may impede quitting, but co-use rates among quitline callers are unknown. The purpose of our observational study was to describe marijuana use among quitline callers in states with legalized marijuana. Methods Participants were 1,059 smokers aged 21 or older from Oregon, Alaska, and Washington, DC, who called quitlines from September through December 2016. Data on quitline callers' demographics, tobacco and marijuana use, and quitline use were collected. We used χ2 and regression analyses to compare marijuana users with nonusers on demographic characteristics and quitline use. Result Among quitline callers in our study, 24% reported using marijuana in the past 30 days: 28.9% in Alaska, 16.7% in Washington, DC, and 25.0% in Oregon (P =.009). Current users, compared with non-users (n = 772), were less likely to be women (48.4% vs 62.0%, respectively, P