Marijuana use among daily tobacco smokers: Relationship to anxiety-related factors

The present investigation evaluated the incremental validity of regular marijuana use and frequency of such use in relation to anxiety and depressive symptoms and perceived health among young adult tobacco smokers (n = 202). Approximately 72% of the sample were current marijuana smokers, using this drug on an average of 7.6 (SD = 9.2) times per week. As expected, after controlling for theoretically-relevant smoking (cigarettes per day), alcohol use, and affect factors (i.e., negative affectivity and anxiety sensitivity), marijuana use predicted anxiety symptoms and perceived general health, whereas frequency of marijuana use predicted only anxiety symptoms. These results are discussed in relation to better understanding the role of regular marijuana use in terms of anxiety-relevant emotional vulnerability and beliefs about physical health among regular smokers.