Question

1) Why is conducting Covid research among students so important?

2) Why is the notion of ‘do no harm’ so important when conducting marketing research on topics such as CBD legalization and the use of cannabis in vaping devices?

Answer 1

1.COVID 19 is not just altering everyday life; it’s also upending psychological research. As universities and colleges across the country go virtual, researchers are scrambling to protect their human participants and animal subjects, their scholarship and their careers.

“The research that will be affected first are studies that involve bringing groups of people together in close proximity,” says Jeff Zacks, PhD, of Washington University in St. Louis, who chairs APA’s Board of Scientific Affairs (BSA). “But this is going to slow everybody down for 2020.”

To mitigate the impact, Zacks, his fellow BSA members and other experts offer the following advice.

Even if your university hasn’t told faculty to stay home yet, be ready, says Zacks. “Don’t leave mission critical information on paper in your office or lab,” he says. Make sure you have a laptop, charger, webcam, contact information for team members and access to any electronic materials you’ll need. If you don’t yet know how to use Skype, Zoom and Hangouts, now’s the time to learn. Work with your university to ensure that you’re using proper encryption and other security protocols when you’re analyzing and storing data off-site. Consider having calls to your study project line forwarded to a project staff person’s cellphone.

It’s possible that federal agencies and other funders may extend deadlines. But since it’s not clear when the pandemic will be over, it’s important to think creatively about how to sustain your research over at least the next three to five months, says Carmela Alcántara, PhD, of Columbia University’s School of Social Work. Then reach out to your program officer and share how the crisis is affecting your work and how you plan to keep making progress.

2.The proliferation of vaporization ('vaping') as a method for administering cannabis raises many of the same public health issues being debated and investigated in relation to e-cigarettes (e-cigs). Good epidemiological data on the prevalence of vaping cannabis are not yet available, but with current trends towards societal approval of medicinal and recreational use of cannabis, the pros and cons of vaping cannabis warrant study. As with e-cigs, vaping cannabis portends putative health benefits by reducing harm from ingesting toxic smoke. Indeed, vaping is perceived and being sold as a safer way to use cannabis, despite the lack of data on the health effects of chronic vaping. Other perceived benefits include better taste, more efficient and intense effects and greater discretion which allows for use in more places. Unfortunately, these aspects of vaping could prompt an increased likelihood of trying cannabis, earlier age of onset, more positive initial experiences, and more frequent use, thereby increasing the probability of problematic use or addiction. Sales and marketing of vaping devices with no regulatory guidelines, especially related to advertising or product development targeting youth, parallels concerns under debate related to e-cigs and youth. Thus, the quandary of whether or not to promote vaping as a safer method of cannabis administration for those wishing to use cannabis, and how to regulate vaping and vaping devices, necessitates substantial investigation and discussion. Addressing these issues in concert with efforts directed towards e-cigs may save time and energy and result in a more comprehensive and effective public health policy on vaping.

Legalization and commercial sale of non-medical cannabis has led to increasing diversity and potency of cannabis products. Some of the American states that were the first to legalize have seen rises in acute harms associated with cannabis use, e.g. Colorado has seen increases in emergency department visits for cannabis-related acute psychological distress and severe vomiting (hyperemesis), as well as a number of high-profile deaths related to ingestion of high doses of cannabis edibles. Over-ingestion of cannabis is related to multiple factors, including the sale of cannabis products with high levels of THC and consumers’ confusion regarding labelling of cannabis products, which disproportionately impact new or inexperienced users. Based on our review of the literature, we propose three approaches to minimizing acute harms: early restriction of cannabis edibles and high-potency products; clear and consistent labelling that communicates dose/serving size and health risks; and implementation of robust data collection frameworks to monitor harms, broken down by cannabis product type (e.g. dose, potency, route of administration) and consumer characteristics (e.g. age, sex, gender, ethnicity). Ongoing data collection and monitoring of harms in jurisdictions that have existing legal cannabis laws will be vital to understanding the impact of cannabis legalization and maximizing public health benefits.