An investigation into the impact of racial discrimination on cannabis use

It is widely documented that the experiences of racial discrimination can have a significant impact on multiple health outcomes within ethnic minority groups. In particular, research from US points to racial discrimination functioning as a psychosocial stressor and contributing to the development of cardiovascular disease (Panza, Puhl, Taylor, Zaleski, Livington and Pescatello 2019) and mood and anxiety disorders (Chou, Asnaani and Hofmann 2011). Earlier research within this field took a bottom-up approach to the health disparities between ethnic minorities and white individuals. Wherein it was assumed these differences could be accounted for by biological/endogenous differences between ethnicities, this assumption however was laden with racist stereotypes and scientific misconceptions. Whereas contemporary research has now taken a top-down approach to investigate ethnic health disparities, positing that social factors e.g. discrimination may account for differences in health outcomes between ethnic groups ( Williams and Jackson 2005; Amaro, Sanchez, Bautista and Cox 2021).

Specifically, racial discrimination has been hypothesised as a potential social determinant for vulnerability to substance use disorders (SUD) and alcoholism. This is based upon the well-documented assumption that individuals subject to acute and chronic psychosocial stressors (particularly in early life) have increased susceptibility to drug-seeking and problematic usage (Hassanbeigi, Askari, Hassanbeigi and Pourmovahed 2013; Moustafa, Parkes, Fitzgerald and Underhill et al 2018). The association between racial discrimination and SUD development has been exemplified by a variety of research methodologies. For example, Calixte-Civil et al (2020) demonstrated that experimentally induced feelings of group exclusion within a cohort of Black smokers lowered the rates of successful smoking cessation. Longitudinal and survey studies have identified that self-reported perceived racial discrimination in Asian and Black Americans increases the risk of alcohol and substance use, and substance use cognitions (Gibbons, Etcheverry, Stock et al 2010;Yoo, Gee, Lowthrop and Robertson 2010; Brody, Kogan, and Chen 2012). Interestingly however, individual/personality traits have been suggested to moderate or mediate the relationship between perceived racial discrimination and substance/alcohol use risk. The literature on this topic is fairly scarce, however the research available points to impulsivity potentially impacting the predictive strength of racial discrimination on substance use susceptibility ( Gibbons, O'Hara, Stock and Gerrard et al 2021) Latzman, Chan and Shishido 2013; Riley, Clifton, Khazvand and Zapolski 2021). The present research will aim to build upon the early findings described above.