About the Study

Native Health: The Cannabis and Nicotine Study

What is the Purpose of the Study?

The goal of this study is to better understand what American Indian and Alaska Native (AIAN) young adults think about new commercial tobacco and cannabis products on the market, what products they currently use, and why and how they use both commercial tobacco products (non-traditional/ceremonial uses) and cannabis.

Interviews, survey, and biomarker data will be used to learn about different products being used over time, as well as the motivations, perceived risks and benefits, and individual, communal, and societal factors of commercial tobacco and cannabis use.

What are the Benefits of Participating?

Besides being compensated for your time and being able to discuss biomarker results with a researcher, your participation in this study will benefit the community.

Commercial tobacco and cannabis use is an important health issue among AI young adults. American Indian communities, research communities, and school communities would benefit greatly with more information directly from the people who try these products, and switch between using them.

It would also benefit the community to better understand the AI young views of current trends in community use of certain products, and what factors influence these changes (family, friends, advertising, social media). Our goal in working with the community is to honor the AI young adult voice to help create prevention and intervention programs for youth. We will also look at how this information can help create more culturally focused recovery programs in local American Indian communities.

Who is Leading the Study?

Dr. Claradina Soto (Navajo/Jemez Pueblo) is leading this project at the University of Southern California. She has 20 years of collaborating with Tribal and Urban Indian populations throughout California to provide culturally relevant programs to reduce commercial tobacco use and improve the well-being of American Indian communities. There are three American Indian consultants engaged with this study who have over 15 years’ experience working with our community.

A Community Advisory Board including American Indian members with community expertise will guide our study design and translate our key learnings to culturally tailored content to be shared with the larger community. Together we are partnering with the University of California San Francisco, Dr. Pam Ling and her team who have experience in biomarker sampling among vulnerable populations.