Abstract
BackgroundDabbing is an emerging method of marijuana ingestion. However, little is known about dabbing owing to limited surveillance data on dabbing.ObjectiveThe aim of the study was to analyze Google search data to assess the scope and breadth of information seeking on dabbing.MethodsGoogle Trends data about dabbing and related topics (eg, electronic nicotine delivery system [ENDS], also known as e-cigarettes) in the United States between January 2004 and December 2015 were collected by using relevant search terms such as “dab rig.” The correlation between dabbing (including topics: dab and hash oil) and ENDS (including topics: vaping and e-cigarette) searches, the regional distribution of dabbing searches, and the impact of cannabis legalization policies on geographical location in 2015 were analyzed.ResultsSearches regarding dabbing increased in the United States over time, with 1,526,280 estimated searches during 2015. Searches for dab and vaping have very similar temporal patterns, where the Pearson correlation coefficient (PCC) is .992 (P<.001). Similar phenomena were also obtained in searches for hash oil and e-cigarette, in which the corresponding PCC is .931 (P<.001). Dabbing information was searched more in some western states than other regions. The average dabbing searches were significantly higher in the states with medical and recreational marijuana legalization than in the states with only medical marijuana legalization (P=.02) or the states without medical and recreational marijuana legalization (P=.01).ConclusionsPublic interest in dabbing is increasing in the United States. There are close associations between dabbing and ENDS searches. The findings suggest greater popularity of dabs in the states that legalized medical and recreational marijuana use. This study proposes a novel and timely way of cannabis surveillance, and these findings can help enhance the understanding of the popularity of dabbing and provide insights for future research and informed policy making on dabbing.
Highlights
Dabbing is an emerging method of marijuana ingestion
Similar phenomena were obtained in searches for hash oil and e‐cigarette, in which the corresponding Pearson correlation coefficient (PCC) is .931 (P < .001)
The average dabbing searches were significantly higher in the states with medical and recreational marijuana legalization than in the states with only medical marijuana legalization (P = .02) or the states without medical and recreational marijuana legalization (P = .01)
Summary
Google Trends data about dabbing and related topics (eg, electronic nicotine delivery system [ENDS], known as e‐cigarettes) in the United States between January 2004 and December 2015 were collected by using relevant search terms such as “dab rig.” The correlation between dabbing (including topics: dab and hash oil) and ENDS (including topics: vaping and e‐ cigarette) searches, the regional distribution of dabbing searches, and the impact of cannabis legalization policies on geographical location in 2015 were analyzed. Google Trends data about dabbing and related topics (eg, electronic nicotine delivery system [ENDS], known as e‐cigarettes) in the United States between January 2004 and December 2015 were collected by using relevant search terms such as “dab rig.”. Data were collected from Google Trends [37], which provides a public and timely way to analyze the trends of certain search query terms by time, geographic location, and category. Each Google Trends curve consists of many weekly aggregated data points, and each data point indicates the fraction of searches for the chosen terms (or categories) in a geographic location at a particular time relative to the total number of searches at that time. All indices are scaled to the highest search week (RSV=100). Low searches are normalized and scaled to be a zero volume (RSV=0). The study qualifies as non–human subjects research because this study does not involve data through intervention or interaction with a living individual or his or her identifiable private information
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