Boost your High: Cigarette Smoking to Enhance Alcohol and Drug Effects among Southeast Asian American Youth

Abstract

This study examined: 1) whether using cigarettes to enhance the effects of other drugs (here referred to as “boosting”) is a unique practice related to blunts (i.e., small cheap cigars hollowed out and filled with cannabis) or marijuana use only; 2) the prevalence of boosting among drug-using young people; and 3) the relationship between boosting and other drug-related risk behaviors. Data collected from 89 Southeast Asian American young people in Northern California. Seventy-two percent reported any lifetime boosting. Results of linear regression analyses show a positive relationship between frequency of boosting to enhance alcohol high and number of drinks per occasion. Boosting was also associated with use of blunts and with the number of blunts on a typical day. Boosting may be common among drug-using Southeast Asian youths and our findings indicate a need for further research on boosting as an aspect of cigarette uptake and maintenance among drug- and alcohol-involved youths.