Dawn Foster, PhD, Assistant Professor of Psychiatry, has received a Yale Center for Clinical Investigation (YCCI) Scholar Award to examine cannabis use behaviors in young adults.
The award is for a 24-month term as a Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA) Scholar effective December 6.
Foster described her project as a “novel examination of cannabis vaping – an understudied, rapidly growing form of substance abuse – designed to identify high-risk individuals, patterns of use, and contexts associated with cannabis vaping.”
According to her study, vaping cannabis, as opposed to smoking it, is often perceived as less harmful to health, more efficient (greater effects for less effort and cost), more discrete (little or no smell) and better tasting.
Foster said there is a need to better understand the rate of cannabis vaping in young adults, the context of its use, and any co-occurring disorders.
“As an initial step, we will establish prevalence of use and perceptions thereof among young adults, and characterize contexts and patterns of use over time,” she wrote in her proposal.