---
title: The Way You Use Cannabis, Not Just How Much, May Flag Addiction Risk
description: People who use cannabis by smoking, vaping, eating and dabbing were most likely to meet the clinical bar for addiction, a national study found.
author: Dr Marina Nani (Editor-in-Chief)
updated: 2026-08-19T15:08:48.104Z
canonical: https://richhealthmagazine.com/article/cannabis-consumption-method-addiction-risk-study
image: https://cdn.nanimediahouse.com/cannabis-consumption-forms-177306.webp
categories: Everyday Wellness
content_type: News
region: United States
publication: Rich Health Magazine
schema_type: Article
---

Someone who keeps a vape pen in a bag, gummies in a kitchen drawer and rolls a joint on a Friday probably does not think of themselves as a heavy user. Each habit feels small and separate. New national research suggests that the mix itself, the fact of reaching for cannabis in nearly every form, may say more about risk than any one of those habits does on its own.

The finding comes from a study led by researchers at NYU Langone Health and NYU Grossman School of Medicine, published online on 8 August in the journal Addictive Behaviors. The authors describe it as the first national study to examine how Americans' cannabis-consumption methods naturally cluster together. It drew on 17,732 adults who reported using cannabis in the past month in the 2022 to 2023 National Survey on Drug Use and Health. According to that survey data, roughly 43.8 million Americans ages 12 and up, more than 15 percent, had used cannabis in the previous 30 days, so the patterns here describe a very large slice of the country.

When the researchers sorted those users by how they consumed, four groups emerged. The study found that 48 percent mainly smoke, 21 percent both smoke and vape, and 17 percent mainly use edibles. The last group, 14 percent of users, is the one the authors flag: people who use cannabis in nearly every form, smoking, vaping, eating and dabbing, a practice in which concentrates are heated and the vapor inhaled. The researchers call them polymodal users.

## The people using it every way were also using it nearly every day

The gap between the groups was not subtle. About half of the polymodal group used cannabis every day, the researchers found, compared with 28 percent of those who mainly smoke, 31 percent of the smoke-and-vape group, and roughly 13 percent of those who mainly use edibles. The pattern for cannabis use disorder, the clinical term for addiction, tracked closely with that. According to the study, about 67 percent of polymodal users met the criteria for the disorder, against 36 percent of mainly-smokers, 47 percent of the smoke-and-vape group, and 15 percent of the edibles group.

> "Using cannabis in multiple forms may be a red flag for heavier use and symptoms of addiction."
> — Omar El-Shahawy, MD, PhD, MPH, lead author and assistant professor, NYU Grossman School of Medicine

It helps to know what that clinical term actually covers. The National Institute on Drug Abuse describes cannabis use disorder as a type of substance use disorder that can be diagnosed as mild, moderate or severe depending on how many symptoms a person has, and it notes that the strongest predictor of the disorder is how often someone uses. That framing matters for reading this study: the group defined by using cannabis in the most ways was also the group using it the most often, and frequency is the thread NIDA ties most directly to risk.

One caution runs underneath all of it. The study did not examine why people chose particular methods, and El-Shahawy said as much, so the reasons behind these patterns remain uncertain. Being a polymodal user is an association with heavier use, not a proven cause of it, and nothing here says that adding a vape pen to your routine will push you toward addiction.

## The four groups don't just use differently, they look different

The methods also mapped onto different kinds of people, according to the survey data. Nearly one in three of the smoke-and-vape and polymodal groups were young adults ages 18 to 25, compared with about one in six of the mainly-smokers. More than half the edibles group were women, and edibles were especially common among college graduates. The researchers also found that people who smoked cannabis were more likely to also smoke cigarettes than vapers or edible users were, a link that stands out because both cannabis and cigarette smoke involve combustion.

For a clinician, El-Shahawy suggested, the practical takeaway is a question. "Asking patients not only whether but how they use cannabis could help clinicians identify when a fuller assessment may be warranted," he said. For a reader, it lands as something quieter: the number of ways cannabis has crept into a routine may itself be information, a pattern the study says is worth noticing before the amount ever feels like a lot.

## FAQ

**Q: What is cannabis use disorder?**
It is the clinical term for cannabis addiction. The National Institute on Drug Abuse describes it as a type of substance use disorder that can be diagnosed as mild, moderate or severe based on how many symptoms a person has, and says the strongest predictor is how often someone uses.

**Q: What does "polymodal" cannabis use mean?**
In this study it describes people who use cannabis in nearly every form, smoking, vaping, eating edibles and dabbing concentrates, rather than sticking mostly to one method. They made up about 14 percent of past-month users.

**Q: Does using edibles instead of smoking lower my risk?**
The study found the edibles group had the lowest rate of daily use and of cannabis use disorder, at about 15 percent. But it is an observed association, not proof that the method itself is safer, and the researchers did not examine why people chose one form over another.

**Q: Does this research prove that mixing methods causes addiction?**
No. The study shows that people who use cannabis in the most forms were also the most likely to use daily and to meet criteria for addiction. It did not look at cause, and the lead author noted the reasons behind the patterns remain uncertain.