Among all the study’s participants, 27.9% have stated to have used e-cigarettes at some point, a device that is quickly seeing an increase among both smokers and non-smokers across the nation, in spite of the fact that e-cigarette use is twice as likely to lead to regular cigarettes in comparison with those who refuse all types of smoking. The scientists add in their paper: “To better understand how students were using e-cigarettes or other portable vaporising devices to vaporize cannabis, we asked students: ‘Which of the following have you used to smoke marijuana?'” This will result in potentially exposing them to higher concentrations of tetrahydrocannabinol or THC.

Morean and colleagues, who surveyed over 3,800 students from five high schools in Connecticut for their study, found that in those who had used e-cigarettes, 18 percent also used the device to vaporize cannabis in some form including THC-infused wax and hash oil. Researchers suspected that this is because of different policies among the schools.

Researchers still aren’t certain exactly how kids are converting the e-cigarettes for marijuana use, Krishnan-Sarin said.

“There’s so much more about this that’s unknown than is known”, she said.

According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about 2 million middle and high school students tried e-cigarettes in 2014, triple the number of teen users in 2013.

In 2013, Krishnan-Sarin and her research team began to hear rumors of widespread use of e-cigarettes to get high.

Researchers quizzed nearly 4,000 teenagers in Connecticut as part of their study, published in the journal Pediatrics.

“Also of concern, the THC concentrations of vaporized hash oil and waxes can exceed that of dried cannabis by four to 30 times”.

E-cigarettes have seen a rise in popularity among the population in general, but even more significant in young adults, and vaping marijuana is becoming a habit among teenagers, which means that a potentially unhealthy habit has been upped.

“This is the first I’ve heard of it, but I can’t say I’m shocked”, said Sean Clarkin, director of strategy and program management at the Partnership for Drug-Free Kids. At this time, there is no regulation of e-cigarettes, although the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has issued proposed rules that would grant it that authority.

Electronic cigarettes allow high school students to use cannabis in less detectable way.