# Twitter-Based Intervention for Young Adult African American Blunt Smokers

> **NIH NIH K23** · UNIVERSITY OF CINCINNATI · 2020 · $144,870

## Abstract

7. Project Summary/Abstract
This Mentored Patient-Oriented Research Career Development Award (K23) will develop the applicant, Dr.
LaTrice Montgomery, into an independent investigator who can evaluate digital health technologies to improve
engagement and treatment of cannabis and tobacco co-use among African American young adults. The career
plan proposes training and stage IA-IB intervention development research and extends the applicant’s prior
research and training to address career development goals in three areas: 1) clinical trials methodology and
longitudinal data analysis, especially for smoking cessation trials (Winhusen), 2) the development of internet-
based social media interventions to address co-use of cannabis and tobacco among African American young
adults (Prochaska and Budney) and 3) mixed methods research (Plano Clark). These goals will be
accomplished through formal coursework, seminars, and conferences under the mentorship of leaders in the
addiction field. In this application, three related studies will be conducted that build on the applicant’s training
goals and will contribute to an increased understanding of how social media can be applied to promote blunt
use reduction among African American young adults. Blunts (hollowed-out tobacco cigar shells that are filled
with cannabis) are widely used among African American young adults and have been associated with more
severe cannabis use problems, such as inability to cut down use, and health problems, such as an increased
risk of cardiovascular and pulmonary diseases due to high levels of carbon monoxide exposure. Despite these
negative drug use and health effects, few interventions have been designed to address blunt use, especially
among African American young adults. Social media sites, such as Twitter, present unique opportunities to
deliver online health-based interventions due to their popularity and ability to reach underserved and
vulnerable populations who might be reluctant to enter or remain engaged in traditional substance abuse
treatment. The applicant will therefore apply the training and skills acquired from this award to the following
research aims: (1) use mixed methods to characterize the cultural norms, patterns of blunt use, quit
experiences, treatment needs, and attitudes and preferences toward social-media based interventions for blunt
use reduction among African American young adults, (2) draw integrated conclusions from mixed methods
data to inform the development and pilot testing of a Twitter-based intervention and 3) conduct a small
randomized clinical trial to test the acceptability, feasibility and initial efficacy of a Twitter-based treatment
intervention for African American young adult blunt smokers. The training experience and results from the
proposed work will position the applicant to pursue future independent NIH funding to develop this line of
research and adapt and test future internet-based social media interventions for cannabis and t...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9982279
- **Project number:** 5K23DA042130-04
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF CINCINNATI
- **Principal Investigator:** LaTrice Montgomery
- **Activity code:** K23 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $144,870
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2017-08-15 → 2022-07-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9982279

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9982279, Twitter-Based Intervention for Young Adult African American Blunt Smokers (5K23DA042130-04). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9982279. Licensed CC0.

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