Leveraging user perspectives for insight into cannabis concentrates.

BACKGROUND: The US has seen an increase in the popularity of highly concentrated forms of cannabis (hereafter concentrates) and too little is known about the potential risks associated with their use. OBJECTIVES: The present study aims to better understand the patterns and outcomes of concentrates use through the perspectives of young adult users. METHODS: Participants (N = 234, 27.9% female) aged 18-35 years were recruited using SurveyMonkey Audience® and had ingested concentrates at least once in the past 6 months. They were queried on concentrates use patterns (e.g., frequency, medical/recreational) and the effects experienced after using concentrates (e.g., physiological/psychological, strength/duration). RESULTS: A total of 27.8% of participants reported frequent use of concentrates (≥10 days in past month). Those who used for medical purposes or lived in states where use is legal were more likely to use concentrates frequently. While most (64.2%) did not report experiencing potentially serious side effects, some reported a sense of altered reality/confusion (23.3%), rapid heartbeat (11.2%), lung pain (9.9%) and severe paranoia (6.9%). Among those who used concentrates in the past month (N = 168), 72.6% used concentrates with other cannabis forms, 57.7% used along with alcohol, and 22.6% used with other drugs. CONCLUSION: Continued research on concentrates use in the US is needed. Research-informed policies that foster safe and responsible use of concentrates are necessary to protect users, especially those who use concentrates frequently, from potential negative side effects.

"I just want to be skinny.": A content analysis of tweets expressing eating disorder symptoms.

There is increasing concern about online communities that promote eating disorder (ED) behaviors through messages and/or images that encourage a "thin ideal" (i.e., promotion of thinness as attractive) and harmful weight loss/weight control practices. The purpose of this paper is to assess the content of body image and ED-related content on Twitter and provide a deeper understanding of EDs that may be used for future studies and online-based interventions. Tweets containing ED or body image-related keywords were collected from January 1-January 31, 2015 (N = 28,642). A random sample (n = 3000) was assessed for expressions of behaviors that align with subscales of the Eating Disorder Examination (EDE) 16.0. Demographic characteristics were inferred using a social media analytics company. The comprehensive research that we conducted indicated that 2,584 of the 3,000 tweets were ED-related; 65% expressed a preoccupation with body shape, 13% displayed issues related to food/eating/calories, and 4% expressed placing a high level of importance on body weight. Most tweets were sent by girls (90%) who were ≤19 years old (77%). Our findings stress a need to better understand if and how ED-related content on social media can be used for targeting prevention and intervention messages towards those who are in-need and could potentially benefit from these efforts.