1 Health Innovation and Evaluation Hub, Centre de recherche du centre hospitalier de l'Université de Montréal (CRCHUM), Montréal, Quebec, Canada; Department of Social and Preventive Medicine, Université de Montréal, Montréal, Quebec, Canada. Electronic address: jennifer.oloughlin@umontreal.ca.
2 Health Innovation and Evaluation Hub, Centre de recherche du centre hospitalier de l'Université de Montréal (CRCHUM), Montréal, Quebec, Canada.
3 Health Innovation and Evaluation Hub, Centre de recherche du centre hospitalier de l'Université de Montréal (CRCHUM), Montréal, Quebec, Canada; Department of Exercise Science/INDI Program, Concordia University, Montréal, Quebec, Canada.
4 Department of Pediatrics, MassGeneral Hospital for Children, Boston, MA; Pediatrics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA.
5 Tobacco Control Team, Institut national de santé publique du Québec, Montréal, Quebec, Canada; Department of Psychology, Université du Québec à Montréal, Montréal, Quebec, Canada.
6 Department of Family Medicine and Community Health, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, MA.
7 Health Innovation and Evaluation Hub, Centre de recherche du centre hospitalier de l'Université de Montréal (CRCHUM), Montréal, Quebec, Canada; Department of Social and Preventive Medicine, Université de Montréal, Montréal, Quebec, Canada.

Parental Cannabis Use Is Associated with Cannabis Initiation and Use in Offspring.

J Pediatr. 2019 Mar;206:142-147.e1

Authors: O'Loughlin JL, Dugas EN, O'Loughlin EK, Winickoff JP, Montreuil A, Wellman RJ, Sylvestre MP, Hanusaik N

Abstract

OBJECTIVES: To assess, before legalization in Canada, whether parental cannabis use is associated with initiation of use in adolescent offspring or with use in young-adult offspring.

STUDY DESIGN: Data were available in 2 longitudinal studies in Montréal, Canada. In AdoQuest, 1048 parents with children in grade 6 reported past-year cannabis use. Cannabis initiation among offspring was measured in grade 7, 9, and/or 11. In the Nicotine Dependence in Teens study, cannabis use data were available for 584 participants (mean age 24 years) and their parents (ie, 542 offspring-mother pairs, 438 offspring-father pairs). The association between parental and offspring cannabis use was estimated using multivariable logistic regression in both studies.

RESULTS: In AdoQuest, grade 6 never-users were 1.8 times more likely to initiate cannabis during high school if their parents reported past-year use. In the Nicotine Dependence in Teens study, the aORs (95% CI) for past-year cannabis use among adult offspring were not different for "mother uses cannabis" (2.8 [1.4-5.8]) or "father uses cannabis" (2.1 [1.2-3.8]). Participants with 1 or 2 cannabis-using parents were 1.7 and 7.1 times more likely to use cannabis, respectively, than participants with non-using parents.

CONCLUSIONS: To enable informed decision-making about their own cannabis use, parents need to be aware that children of cannabis users are more likely to use cannabis in adolescence and young adulthood.

PMID: 30454963 [PubMed - in process]