Researchers think the difference in policy effects may be a result of the high levels of stigma bisexual women face

Researchers are urging policymakers to consider LGBTQ2+ communities when regulating cannabis after showing the drastic effects marijuana laws have on how much they use the drug.

The study from Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health is the first to look at the relationship between state-level medical marijuana laws, marijuana use and marijuana use disorder for gay and bisexual users while also looking at gender differences.

The report sampled 126,463 healthy adults from the 2015–2017 National Survey on Drug Use and Health in the U.S.

Forty per cent of bisexual women surveyed used cannabis in the past year compared to 26 per cent of gay women and just 10 per cent of heterosexual women.

“Our results support existing literature by demonstrating that bisexual women have higher marijuana use disorder compared to heterosexual women. This is part of a larger health burden, as bisexual women are twice as likely to have co-occurring mental health and substance use disorders yet often have little contact with service providers,” said Morgan Philbin, PhD, a study author and assistant professor sociomedical sciences in a press release.

When comparing gay women, daily cannabis use was higher for those living in states with medical marijuana laws. Bisexual women in those states also used more cannabis in the past year than other bi women.

Although it wasn’t studied by the team, they speculate the difference in policy effects of medical marijuana laws for bisexual women compared to straight women may be a result of the high levels of stigma bisexual women face — which could lead to self-medication with medical marijuana as a coping mechanism for being a sexual minority.

Researchers saw similar results for men too.

About one in three gay and bisexual men polled using cannabis in the past year, compared to 17 per cent of straight men, while daily marijuana use was also 2.3 times as high for bisexual men compared to heterosexual men.

“This study represents an important contribution to the literature on the structural determinants of substance use for LGB individuals and demonstrates the need to allocate resources that target sexual minority women, especially as medical marijuana laws and recreational marijuana laws continue to change at the state level,” said Silvia Martins, MD and PhD, an associate professor of epidemiology and senior author in a press release.

• Email: bhristova@postmedia.com | Twitter: bobbyhristova

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