Alcohol First, Cannabis Last: Identification of an Especially Risky Use Pattern among Individuals Who Co-Use Alcohol and Cannabis

<i>Background:</i> Alcohol and cannabis co-use is common and confers increased risk for potential harms, such as negative consequences and substance dependence. The existing evidence suggests that factors such as dose of delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) consumed and order of use of each substance (i.e., using alcohol or cannabis first or last when co-using) may impact co-use outcomes. Existing co-use research has focused primarily on college-samples or young adults, and few studies have explored these nuanced relations among community samples. <i>Methods:</i> We examined survey data from 87 community members (mean age 32.9 years, 49.4% female) recruited from legal market cannabis dispensaries. Using a combination of regression techniques (i.e., OLS, negative binomial, censor-inflated) we modeled relations among co-use ordering patterns, THC dose and cannabis outcomes as well as interactions with sex assigned at birth and age. <i>Results:</i> Individuals who endorsed co-use reported significantly higher CUDIT scores than those who had never co-used (<i>p</i> &lt; 0.01). Using alcohol first and cannabis last (a pattern we refer to as “AFCL”) was more common among females than males (<i>p</i> &lt; 0.01). In the context of typical substance use weeks, more frequently engaging in the AFCL pattern was associated with significantly higher CUDIT scores (<i>p</i> &lt; 0.001) and negatively predicted positive consequences (<i>p</i> &lt; 0.001). Other patterns predicted higher CUDIT scores during heavy use weeks. <i>Conclusions:</i> Results indicate that co-use ordering patterns are related to substance use outcomes. Further research leveraging within-subjects, longitudinal designs is needed to test causal relations between these variables.