Medical marijuana usage as a coping mechanism for psychological distress among Los Angeles young adults

Introduction: The Proposition 215/Compassionate Use Act was adopted in the state of California in 1996 which allowed physicians to provide written recommendations for marijuana for medicinal usage. Since the passage of this law, medical marijuana usage has increased among the young adult population. There is a lack of information on these young adults using medical marijuana as coping mechanism for traumatic experiences resulting in psychological distress. Methods: The study design utilizes a mixed-methods approach by integrating quantitative surveys and qualitative interviews among Los Angeles young adults recruited between February 2014 to August 2015. The enrollment criteria were: ages 18-26 years old; used marijuana from 30 to 90 days frequently; and lived in the Los Angeles area. Medical marijuana patients (MMP) had a current recommendation while participants without a recommendation were non-patient users (NPU). Interviews were transcribed verbatim, coded, and uploaded into Atlas.ti. Demographic data are summarized in quantitative tables created using IBM SPSS Statistics Version 22. Results: Among participants with traumatic experiences, a majority whom were Hispanic and MMPs. Participants used marijuana to relieve psychological distress symptoms such as having sleep issues, coping with insomnia, and coping with depression. These participants transitioned their medical marijuana usage from self-medication to medicinal usage over time. Overall, the majority of participants from the qualitative cases have seen positive, psychological effects from their usage of marijuana. Conclusion: Medical marijuana can be used as a coping mechanism for psychological distress among young adults with a history of trauma. This marijuana medical usage does reduce stress in this population.