Food hardship as a strong predictor of tobacco and cannabis use among youth in WA state

•Data from The Healthy Youth Survey was analyzed to understand the likelihood of tobacco and cannabis use for students in Washington state who experienced poverty as measured by participating in the free and reduced lunch (FRL) program or reported food hardship.•Historically research has documented that experiencing poverty and being from marginalized ethnic/racial minorities are risk factors for substance use among youth, our study is unique because we look at the intersection of racial/ethnic differences and poverty and their impact on substance use.•When the intersectional analysis utilized perceived food hardship and cannabis and tobacco use there were significantly higher rates of use within all race/ethnic categories.•FRL status may not be a sensitive enough measure to predict tobacco and cannabis use and we recommend additional screening for food hardship. This brief report examines data from The Healthy Youth Survey to understand the likelihood of tobacco and cannabis use for students in Washington state who experienced poverty as measured by participating in the free and reduced lunch (FRL) program or reported food hardship. We conducted descriptive and exploratory statistics and trend analysis of the data to understand differences in substance use between ethnic/racial groups by poverty status. While historically research has documented that experiencing poverty and being from marginalized ethnic/racial minorities are risk factors for substance use among youth, our study is unique because few studies look at the intersection of racial/ethnic differences and poverty and their impact on substance use. Our results align with previous research when the intersectional analysis was by ethnicity and FRL – White students reported significantly higher tobacco and cannabis use, and Black and Mixed-race students had a significantly higher likelihood of cannabis use if they received FRL. However, when the intersectional analysis utilized perceived food hardship and cannabis and tobacco use there were significantly higher rates of use within all race/ethnic categories. Therefore, FRL status may not be a sensitive enough measure to predict tobacco and cannabis use and we recommend additional screening for food hardship.