Table 3.
Characteristics of cannabis use by subjects (n = 100) enrolled in the study
| Cannabis Characteristic | |
|---|---|
| Age of First Cannabis Use (± SD) | 17.3 (± 4.8) |
| Age of Onset for Regular Use (± SD) | 20.4 (± 6.2) |
| Years of Medicinal Cannabis Use (± SD) | 5.5 (± 7.1) |
| Initial intention of cannabis use | |
| Medicinal | 11 |
| Recreational | 88 |
| Ever smoked cigarettes | 70 |
| Current smoker | 21 |
| Reason for medical cannabis use | |
| Conventional treatments unhelpful | 22 |
| Prefer natural treatment | 52 |
| Doctor recommendation | 10 |
| Internet search for treatments | 16 |
| Hear-say from peers | 40 |
| Other | 18 |
| Mental health conditions to treat with cannabis | |
| Anxiety, stress | 77 |
| Depression | 47 |
| Insomnia, sleep issues | 53 |
| PTSD | 14 |
| Bipolar disorder | 5 |
| Focus, attention | 14 |
| Other | 31 |
| Using cannabis to treat other health conditions | 25 |
| Reasons conventional treatments not preferred | |
| Not effective | 44 |
| Side effects | 54 |
| Expensive | 25 |
| Other | 25 |
| Dispensary visits per month (± SD) | 4.0 (± 3.4) |
| Frequency of cannabis use, times per month (± SD) | 47.1 (± 30.8) |
| Amount of product use per week | |
| Dried cannabis | |
| <1 g | 31 |
| 3.5 g (an eighth) | 40 |
| 7 g (a quarter) | 17 |
| 14 g (a half) | 6 |
| 28 g (an ounce) | 2 |
| Capsules (1–2 daily) | 10 |
| Tincture (~ 5 drops daily) | 4 |
| Other (~ 5 teabags, 20 oz. creams, oils and bath salts) | 6 |
| Time of day usually use cannabis | |
| Early morning (6 am–9 am) | 9 |
| Mid-morning (9 am–11 am) | 13 |
| Midday (10 am-2 pm) | 17 |
| Mid-afternoon (2 pm–4 pm) | 16 |
| Early evening (4 pm–7 pm) | 27 |
| Evening (7 pm–10 pm) | 67 |
| Late night (10 pm-12 am) | 35 |
| Middle of the night (12 am–6 am) | 10 |
| On an as-needed basis | 37 |
| Preferred form of consumption | |
| Smoking | 71 |
| Vaporiser | 43 |
| Edibles | 20 |
| Capsules | 17 |
| Tinctures | 15 |
| Tincture THC | 3 |
| Tincture CBD | 6 |
| Tincture Mix | 7 |
| Tea | 9 |
| Topical | 11 |
| Cannabis products usually bought | |
| Dried cannabis | 91 |
| CBD capsules | 23 |
| Edibles | 17 |
| Extracts, concentrates | 9 |
| Tea | 8 |
| Tinctures | 8 |
| Massage oil, cream | 13 |
| Other | 2 |
| Preferred THC to CBD concentrations | |
| Pure THC | 20 |
| Pure CBD | 18 |
| High THC/Low CBD | 35 |
| Equal THC/CBD | 35 |
| Low THC/High CBD | 21 |
| No preference | 6 |
| Don’t know | 14 |
| Negative effects from medical cannabis | |
| Short-term memory loss | 25 |
| Dizziness | 16 |
| Decreased attention span | 21 |
| Decreased sensory perception | 6 |
| Increased anxiety | 36 |
| Paranoia | 26 |
| Impaired body movements | 9 |
| Difficulty breathing | 8 |
| Other | 8 |
| Frequency of negative effects | |
| Every time I use cannabis | 2 |
| Nearly every time | 4 |
| Sometimes | 6 |
| Rarely | 20 |
| Only during a certain cannabis type | 19 |
| Not since the first time I used cannabis | 1 |
| Other | 10 |