COVID-19 vaccine willingness and cannabis use histories

Background: Cannabis use is associated with problematic health-behaviors such as excessive alcohol and tobacco use, and sedentary behavior. Here, we examined the association between cannabis use history and an especially topical health-behavior, willingness to receive a COVID-19 vaccine.

Methods: COVID-19 vaccine willingness was surveyed in a subset of participants from the Tulsa 1000 Study, which is a longitudinal study of psychiatric treatment-seeking and healthy control participants. We identified 45 participants who completed a COVID-19 vaccine questionnaire and reported more than 10 lifetime cannabis uses. Those participants were compared to a group of 45 individuals with very light (<10) cannabis use histories who were propensity score-matched on age, sex, income, and race. Two-group t-tests and Bayes factor analysis on vaccine willingness were conducted between groups. Exploratory correlation analyses were conducted on vaccine willingness and lifetime cannabis use levels within the cannabis group only.

Results: Vaccine willingness did not differ between the two groups (t₈₈=0.33, p=.74; BF₀₁=4.3). However, a negative correlation was identified within the cannabis group, such that higher lifetime cannabis use histories correlated with less willingness to receive a vaccine (rho₄₃= -.33, p=.03).

Conclusions: Although vaccine willingness did not differ between the two matched groups, preliminary evidence suggests that heavy lifetime cannabis use might indicate a reluctance to engage in health-promoting behaviors like receiving a COVID-19 vaccine.