Racial/ethnic differences in the prevalence and patterns of cannabis use onset and CUD have been documented. Although AAs historically have been less likely than their non-Hispanic EA counterparts to report a lifetime history of cannabis use, this difference has gradually decreased (Johnston et al., 2014), with some studies reporting little to no difference (Ewing, 2002; Keyes et al., 2015; Shih et al., 2010). Furthermore, recent research suggests AAs are more likely to report use in the past year (Hasin et al., 2015b). Similarly, while the lifetime prevalence of CUD is comparable across EAs and AAs (Hasin et al., 2015a), the most recent data indicate that CUD is now more common in AAs than EAs (Hasin et al., 2015a; Wu et al., 2016). By contrast, evidence that rates of childhood maltreatment are greater in AAs compared to EAs is unequivocal. Numerous studies have found the prevalence of child abuse or neglect in AAs to be twofold or greater than that among EAs (Lee et al., 2012; Wildeman et al., 2014; Wulczyn, 2009).
