By Cara Anderson
IG: @carajojo
A new study conducted on a cannabis specific subreddit revealed social trends and cannabis user behaviors. Over two million posts were analyzed in the study, including content ranging from 2000 to 2016. Of the 2.26 million Reddit posts analyzed, 17.7% pertained to form of use.
The specific Reddit forum which was analyzed by researchers was not provided, but r/trees is a popular subreddit which was likely the source of the study.
r/trees has over one million subscribers; the forum is 18+, does not allow sales, or self-promotion. From DIY bongs to discovering cannabis plants at your grandparents house, the forum allows any content that is cannabis related.
Researchers discovered that flower is the most commonly consumed form of cannabis, dabbing will get you the highest, and that cannabis users have “greater average effects with dabs, edibles, and concentrates.” While the discoveries aren’t groundbreaking to the cannabis community, there’s merit in the culture and community are being evaluated. As with any industry, tracking trends and consumer behavior are beneficial to companies that wish to serve their intended consumers.
The study, published in the Drug and Alcohol Dependence journal, concluded that, “a significant increase in online discussion of emerging cannabis forms of use over time and greater subjective effects of dabbing, butane hash oil, and edible use.”
