Who consumes most of the cannabis in Canada? Profiles of cannabis consumption by quantity. (1st December 2019)
- Record Type:
- Journal Article
- Title:
- Who consumes most of the cannabis in Canada? Profiles of cannabis consumption by quantity. (1st December 2019)
- Main Title:
- Who consumes most of the cannabis in Canada? Profiles of cannabis consumption by quantity
- Authors:
- Callaghan, Russell C.
Sanches, Marcos
Benny, Claire
Stockwell, Tim
Sherk, Adam
Kish, Stephen J. - Abstract:
- Highlights: Study pooled Waves 1–3 of the 2018 Canadian National Cannabis Survey ( n = 18, 900). Surveys assessed cannabis use by quantity across seven major cannabis-product types. A standard joint measure was created, based on physical production equivalencies. The upper 10% of Canadian cannabis users accounted for 66% of all cannabis consumed. Abstract: Aim: To establish whether the population-level pattern of cannabis use by quantity is similar to the distributions previously reported for alcohol, in which a small subset of drinkers accounts for a majority of total population alcohol consumption. Method: The current study pooled Waves 1–3 of the 2018 National Cannabis Survey ( n = 18, 900; 2584 past-three-month cannabis users), a set of stratified, population-based surveys designed to assess cannabis consumption and related behaviors in Canada. Each survey systematically measured self-reported cannabis consumption by quantity across seven of the major cannabis-product types. In order to enable the conversion of self-reported consumption of non-flower cannabis products into a standard joint equivalent (SJE: equal to 0.5 g of dried cannabis), we created conversion metrics for physical production equivalencies across cannabis products. Results: Similar to the findings in the alcohol literature, study results show that cannabis consumption is highly concentrated in a small subset of users: the upper 10% of cannabis users accounted for approximately two-thirds of allHighlights: Study pooled Waves 1–3 of the 2018 Canadian National Cannabis Survey ( n = 18, 900). Surveys assessed cannabis use by quantity across seven major cannabis-product types. A standard joint measure was created, based on physical production equivalencies. The upper 10% of Canadian cannabis users accounted for 66% of all cannabis consumed. Abstract: Aim: To establish whether the population-level pattern of cannabis use by quantity is similar to the distributions previously reported for alcohol, in which a small subset of drinkers accounts for a majority of total population alcohol consumption. Method: The current study pooled Waves 1–3 of the 2018 National Cannabis Survey ( n = 18, 900; 2584 past-three-month cannabis users), a set of stratified, population-based surveys designed to assess cannabis consumption and related behaviors in Canada. Each survey systematically measured self-reported cannabis consumption by quantity across seven of the major cannabis-product types. In order to enable the conversion of self-reported consumption of non-flower cannabis products into a standard joint equivalent (SJE: equal to 0.5 g of dried cannabis), we created conversion metrics for physical production equivalencies across cannabis products. Results: Similar to the findings in the alcohol literature, study results show that cannabis consumption is highly concentrated in a small subset of users: the upper 10% of cannabis users accounted for approximately two-thirds of all cannabis consumed in the country. Males reported consuming more cannabis by volume than females (approximately 60% versus 40%), with young males (15–34 years old) being disproportionately represented in the heaviest-using subgroups. Conclusions: Most of the cannabis used in Canada is consumed by a relatively small population of very heavy cannabis users. Future research should attempt to identify the characteristics of the heaviest-using groups, as well as how population-level cannabis consumption patterns relate to the calculus of cannabis-related harms in society. … (more)
- Is Part Of:
- Drug and alcohol dependence. Volume 205(2019)
- Journal:
- Drug and alcohol dependence
- Issue:
- Volume 205(2019)
- Issue Display:
- Volume 205, Issue 2019 (2019)
- Year:
- 2019
- Volume:
- 205
- Issue:
- 2019
- Issue Sort Value:
- 2019-0205-2019-0000
- Page Start:
- Page End:
- Publication Date:
- 2019-12-01
- Subjects:
- Cannabis -- Marijuana -- Survey -- Quantity -- Standard joint
Drug abuse -- Periodicals
Alcoholism -- Periodicals
616.86 - Journal URLs:
- http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/03768716 ↗
http://www.elsevier.com/journals ↗ - DOI:
- 10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2019.107587 ↗
- Languages:
- English
- ISSNs:
- 0376-8716
- Deposit Type:
- Legaldeposit
- View Content:
- Available online (eLD content is only available in our Reading Rooms) ↗
- Physical Locations:
- British Library DSC - 3627.890000
British Library DSC - BLDSS-3PM
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- 17178.xml