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Recent Marijuana Blunt Smoking Impacts Carbon Monoxide as a Measure of Adolescent Tobacco Abstinence

NCJ Number
209209
Journal
Substance Use & Misuse Volume: 40 Issue: 2 Dated: 2005 Pages: 231-240
Author(s)
Eric T. Moolchan; Darin Zimmerman; Marilyn A. Huestis; David H. Epstein; Shelley S. Sehnert; Debra Zimmerman
Date Published
2005
Length
10 pages
Annotation
As part of an adolescent smoking-cessation trial, this study examined whether marijuana smoking, specifically "blunt" smoking (gutted cigars filled with marijuana), increased participants' likelihood of a false indication of cigarette smoking on the basis of breath carbon monoxide (CO) testing.
Abstract
The relevance of this study was in determining the reliability of breath-testing for levels of CO to detect tobacco smoking in a program designed to treat nicotine dependence. The study involved 37 adolescents enrolled in a nicotine replacement trial conducted in Baltimore, MD, between September 1999 and September 2002. Study eligibility required that participants manifest nicotine dependence by smoking a minimum of 10 cigarettes a day and score at least 5 on the Fagerstrom Test of Nicotine Dependence. Those who met dependence criteria on any psychoactive substance other than tobacco, including marijuana, were excluded from the study. The 37 participants selected for this study had, on at least 1 occasion, reported having abstained from tobacco smoking for at least 7 days. The treatment trial lasted 12 weeks based upon recommended prescription duration for nicotine replacement therapy and other similar studies among youth. At each weekly visit, participants completed self-report questionnaires on current cigarette, marijuana, and other drug use. Immediately thereafter, exhaled CO levels were measured. The current analysis used exhaled CO data from only the 146 visits during which participants reported having smoked no cigarettes within the past week. The findings indicate that blunt smoking impacted the interpretation of measures of exhaled CO as a measure for tobacco cessation. This suggests that more emphasis should be placed on self-reports of tobacco smoking behavior rather than on CO testing alone. 3 tables and 27 references