Tobacco and cannabis use in the UK amongst young adults

Hannah Walsh is a mental health nurse and a PhD student, currently studying at King’s College London, UK. Her topic focuses on the co-use of tobacco and cannabis, and she is developing evidence to support an intervention which could target co-use amongst young adults. Hannah is supervised by Dr Maria Duaso and Professor Ann McNeill. She is visiting Spain with support from the Society for the Study of Addiction in the UK, with the aim of meeting other researchers also investigating co-use.

Summary of Hanna’s PhD study

To develop the evidence base for an intervention to target tobacco and cannabis, she is using the Medical Research Council’s framework for developing complex interventions. Therefore, her PhD research began with a systematic review and meta-analysis of treatment interventions which targeted co-use, or which targeted one substance and also measured change in use of the second. The analysis looked at outcomes for co-users within a variety of interventions.

The second part of her PhD is a survey of co-use and co-quitting amongst young adults. This study has recruited vocational college students across London and beyond, and asked detailed questions about their co-use of tobacco and cannabis, as well as motivation or experiences of quitting one or the other. The survey aims to provide a detailed description of how young adults use both substances, measures of dependency, motivation to quit and resources used to quit.

The second part of her PhD is a survey of co-use and co-quitting amongst young adults. This study has recruited vocational college students across London and beyond, and asked detailed questions about their co-use of tobacco and cannabis, as well as motivation or experiences of quitting one or the other. The survey aims to provide a detailed description of how young adults use both substances, measures of dependency, motivation to quit and resources used to quit.