Is cannabis a slippery slope? Associations between psychological dysfunctioning, other substance use, and impaired driving, in a sample of active cannabis users

Steven Love; Bevan Rowland; Kerry Armstrong

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0310958

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Is cannabis a slippery slope? Associations between psychological dysfunctioning, other substance use, and impaired driving, in a sample of active cannabis users

Journal article

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Is cannabis a slippery slope? Associations between psychological dysfunctioning, other substance use, and impaired driving, in a sample of active cannabis users

Steven Love, Bevan Rowland and Kerry Armstrong

PLoS One, Vol.19(10), pp.1-18

2024

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0310958

PMCID: PMC11463771

PMID: 39383155

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Abstract

Cannabis is a gateway drug that can lead to the engagement of other substances. Psychological dysfunctioning and dependence have been highlighted as primary components to substance misuse. The purpose of this study was to investigate what aspects of cannabis use and psychological dysfunctioning are associated with the engagement of other substances and impaired driving. Subject to screening, 200 active adult cannabis users completed an online survey. Existing data involving non-cannabis users (N = 833) were also implemented as comparative data. The comparisons suggested that cannabis users were far more likely to have used other drugs in the past 12 months, compared to non-cannabis users. Bivariate correlations and multiple regressions indicated that the degree of cannabis use and likely dependence, psycho-social motives for using cannabis, emotion dysregulation, and psychopathology were positively associated with the frequency of using and driving on other substances. Finally, an ANOVA demonstrated that outside of age, there were no apparent differences in substance use behaviours, motives for using cannabis, and psychological dysfunction, between medicinal and black-market cannabis users. These findings highlight the potential benefits of incorporating self-regulatory concepts into current road safety initiatives, which aim to reduce the interconnected issue of substance misuse and impaired driving behaviours.

Details

Title: Is cannabis a slippery slope? Associations between psychological dysfunctioning, other substance use, and impaired driving, in a sample of active cannabis users
Authors: Steven Love (Corresponding Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Road Safety Research Collaboration
Bevan Rowland - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Road Safety Research Collaboration
Kerry Armstrong - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Road Safety Research Collaboration
Publication details: PLoS One, Vol.19(10), pp.1-18
Publisher: Public Library of Science
Date published: 2024
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0310958
ISSN: 1932-6203
PMID: 39383155; PMC11463771
Copyright note: © 2024 Love et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Data Availability: The data has been stored in a recommended public repository (Open Science Framework). The DOI for the data is 10.17605/OSF.IO/NYQTJ.
Grant note: This research was funded by the Motor Accident Insurance Commission.
Organisation Unit: Road Safety Research Collaboration; School of Law and Society
Language: English
Record Identifier: 991066157502621
Output Type: Journal article

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