Graduation Year

2022

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree

Ph.D.

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)

Degree Granting Department

Psychology

Major Professor

Marina Bornovalova, Ph.D.

Committee Member

Danielle Gulick, Ph.D.

Committee Member

Kristen Salomon, Ph.D.

Committee Member

Thomas Brandon, Ph.D.

Committee Member

Jack Darkes, Ph.D.

Committee Member

Janna Cousijn, Ph.D.

Keywords

cannabis, cigarettes, craving, intoxication, motivation, tobacco, avoidance, approach

Abstract

Cannabis and tobacco are very commonly used across the United States. Given the high prevalence of their dual use, an important health consequence of cannabis is its impact on tobacco usage rates. After all, cigarettes are a leading cause of death in the United States. Theoretical models of drug abuse suggest that cannabis cues and intoxication may be responsible for enhanced smoked tobacco/cigarette motivation. Therefore, the present research sought to assess these routes via two studies. In study 1 (validation & cross-drug cue effects), researchers validated a set of realistic cannabis images among a sample of participants residing in the United States recruited from Amazon Mechanical Turk (MTurk). Study 1 tested whether cannabis cues solely elicit explicit motivation for cannabis, or if this motivation extends to smoked tobacco. In study 2 (intoxication effects), researchers administered an implicit cigarette motivation measure post-smoking, as well as explicit measures (pre- and post-smoking) in placebo and active joint conditions (within-in subjects) to assess whether intoxication has an effect beyond cues. Results of the present study indicates that cannabis cues significantly increase craving, arousal, and valence scores, relative to neutral. Additionally, both studies suggest that cannabis cues may not exert a specific effect on cannabis motivation in a sample of light to moderate users (<16 times per month for cannabis and tobacco). In the present study, cannabis cues momentarily increased the urge to smoke tobacco (Study 1) and decreased avoidance of tobacco (Study 2). These responses did not predict future use (Study 2) but were associated with use concurrently (Study 1). Additionally, cannabis intoxication did not have an effect in the light user sample (Study 2). Overall, present findings highlight the cross-drug nature of cannabis cues, which may impact both how researchers view physiological indices of craving in response to cannabis cues, and how clinicians treat dual-users of cannabis and tobacco.

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