Table 5:

Situations and roles of use for cannabis and cigarettes

Ecological Momentary Assessment data	Qualitative mapping interview data
Situational predictors of use	Salient role(s) of use that help explain predictors	Role definitions	Exemplar quotes
Cannabis more likely than cigarette
Higher cannabis craving	None applicable	n/a	n/a
More intoxicated or drunk	Enhance experiences	Use enhances a sensory experience or activity (e.g., makes playing video games or chores more fun; music sounds better or more intense)	We were out there for a long time not really catching any fish, so we just smoked a joint […] just to, you, know keep us more - just relaxing us. We were already drinking anyway, so just keeping us nice and buzzed. (T021) It really just depends on my mood, like if I’m trying to go like hard and I just wanna like dance and be wild and fun, that’s when I mix [cannabis and alcohol]. (T021)
Cigarette smoking ban	Space-time opener	Characteristics of the substance facilitate use where nicotine/tobacco use is prohibited or discouraged (e.g., indoors, around other people not currently using the substance)	[I]n general I try to be more mindful of where […] I am in relation to people and places when I’m smoking cigarettes compared to weed. […] It seems more harmful to inhale secondhand cigarette smoke than cannabis smoke. And I personally feel more annoyed when I’m inhaling other people’s cigarette smoke when I don’t want to smoke compared to weed. (T025)
	Therapeutic or medicinal	Use mitigates, reduces, or otherwise improves physical ailments and/or their symptoms; beneficial rather than harmful effects.	I prefer to self-medicate [with cannabis]. I definitely do like counseling. I feel like it definitely helps, you know, take a load off. But at the end of the day I’m not the biggest fan of traditional medicine. (T048)
Family member present Romantic partner present	Space-time opener	See definition above.	P: No, they [family members] don’t mind that [smoking cannabis indoors]. They actually enjoy the smell of marijuana, so. I: Okay, yeah. So, it’s sort of accepted at the house – P: It is totally accepted. (T020)
Around a greater number of people using cannabis	Enhance experiences	See definition above.	It’s a very social thing. It’s in a group – smoking with a group is completely different experience than smoking by yourself. […] when I smoke in a group with my best friends it’s silly and fun and we’ll play video games and it’ll be a different experience than when you play video games sober. (T026)
Saw a cannabis product/product packaging	None applicable	n/a	n/a
Cannabis less likely than cigarette
Higher cigarette or tobacco craving	Satisfy addiction	Use satisfies a physiological craving for the substance	Because I’m a cigarette smoker, if I don’t have one, yes, I’m going to be stressed but I’m going to find some butts and make my own cigarette, ya know? (T003) I have a cigarette after I’m done, before I start cooking. […] To prevent the craving later. To not have to worry about it when I’m in the middle of cooking. Like it’s… it’s kind of, like I said it’s compulsive and for efficiency sake like that’s kind of disgusting to think about. I just don’ want to like worry about it while I’m in the middle of cooking. Like, oh, I need to go outside now. (T012)
Alone	Break	Use provides a protected time to pause from an activity or situation (e.g., from work)	If I have an essay I’ll like do some of it, take a break, go [outside the college dorm] have a cigarette, come back to it, and then try to finish it. And then, if I finish it, I’ll reward myself with a cigarette. (P074)
	Step away	Use facilitates stepping away from uncomfortable or overly intense situations	If I’m like anxious, like my mind is racing a mile a minute, if one of my roommates says something stupid, the immediate response is ‘I really need a cigarette’. Which I don’t, but it’s very calming and relaxing and I’ve definitely trained my brain to think immediately after something bad happens, ‘Oh, a cigarette is going to calm me down’. So that’s usually when I step out for a cigarette. It’s just to turn off my brain and stop thinking for a little bit. (T026)
Experienced recent discrimination (general) Experienced discrimination by a stranger Experience recent discrimination due to race, ethnicity, or nationality specifically	Step away	See definition above.	P: I’ve used them [cigarettes] to get out of difficult situations, situations that feel difficult, and like if I’m trying to hold on to a sense of like comfort or like, uh, yeah, feeling of, of just a good feeling; trying to like reintegrate that or pull that back into me. […] I’m thinking of like a cocoon or something. Like a safety blanket or something of like putting on some sort of armor-like protection or something. […] If I’m in a situation I can use like ‘I’m gonna go smoke a cigarette’ as an excuse to jet out of there for a second.. (T041) Working at Hooters, um, when we would get a break or even just get any relief of just being out on the floor with the little purvey guys was smoking a cigarette. So, yea, I’ll go out there and smoke. I started buying packs of cigarettes. (T021) [Reflecting on high smoking rates among SGM communities] I’m Black and Puerto Rican but I don’t feel like I have tons of Black and Puerto Rican friends right now like kicking it with me. And sometimes I feel stupid alone, so maybe they could feel alone. Maybe their journey is different than another gay man or a lesbian woman or whatever their journey is. (T034)