Why young adults use both marijuana and cigarettes
Official title: Using novel behavioral economic measures to characterize dual marijuana and tobacco use in young adults
Funded at Brown University · NIH-11237996 · Data updated 2026-11-12
This project looks at how young adults who use both marijuana and cigarettes make choices between them using short lab tasks that mimic real-life tradeoffs.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Brown University NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Providence, United States) |
| Project start | December 1, 2024 |
| Project end | November 30, 2028 |
| Funding year | 2026 |
| Award (this year) | $606,017 |
| NIH project number | 5R01CA289409-02 |
| Project ID | NIH-11237996 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Ideal participants are young adults (about 18–25 years old) who currently use both marijuana and cigarettes.
✕Less likely to help
People who only use one of these substances, minors under 18, older adults, or anyone unable or unwilling to attend in-person lab visits are unlikely to get direct benefit from participating.
What this research studies
You would be asked to come to the lab and complete brief decision tasks that measure how much you want marijuana versus cigarettes when prices or availability change. The team will use a new cross-price task to see if one product replaces the other and a cue-reactivity task to see if seeing cues for one drug increases craving for the other. These tasks are designed to model everyday choices and triggers that lead to dual use. The researchers hope the results will reveal behavioral patterns that can be targeted to reduce long-term health risks.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: Results could help shape better prevention and quitting supports that lower future cancer risk for people who use both substances.
How similar studies have gone: Behavioral economic approaches have been used successfully for single-substance research, but applying cross-price elasticity and cross-cue demand to marijuana–tobacco dual use is relatively new.
Where this research is happening
-
Brown University
Providence, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Aston, Elizabeth — Brown University
- Study coordinator: Aston, Elizabeth
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About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.