Table 1.
Past year cannabis use across demographic-, substance use-, and legalization attitudes and risk perceptions characteristics; shown are distributions for a. any use vs. non-use (entire sample; N = 49,688) and b. more vs. less frequent use among current users only (n = 7,575).
| Variables |
a. Entire sample (N = 49,688) |
b. Current users only (n = 7,575) |
||
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Valid cases (entire sample) |
Any use vs. no use (n = 7,575) |
Valid cases (current users only) |
More vs. less frequent use (n = 692) |
|
| Demographic characteristics | n (%) | % | n (%) | % |
| Gender | ||||
| Female | 34,243 (69.2%) | 11.8% a | 4,041 (53.7%) | 5.4% a |
| Male | 15,251 (30.8%) | 22.9% a | 3,488 (46.9%) | 13.3% a |
| Age | ||||
| 18–20 | 8,765 (17.9%) | 13.0% a | 1,138 (15.2%) | 7.1% a, b |
| 21–25 | 21,187 (63.6%) | 16.1% a | 5,033 (67.3%) | 9.2% a |
| 26 + | 9,058 (18.5%) | 14.4% a | 1,305 (17.5%) | 11.0% b |
| Immigrant background | ||||
| No | 41,879 (84.6%) | 14.6% a | 6,129 (81.2%) | 8.8% a |
| Yes | 7,639 (15.4%) | 18.6% a | 1,422 (18.8%) | 10.8% a |
| Substance use characteristics | n (%) | % | n (%) | % |
| Current smoker | ||||
| No | 43,797 (89.8%) | 11.7% a, b | 5,129 (69.2%) | 4.2% a, b |
| Occasional | 4,146 (8.5%) | 46.2% a | 1,916 (25.9%) | 17.8% a |
| Daily | 806 (1.7%) | 44.8%b | 361 (4.9%) | 34.9% b |
| Current alcohol use | ||||
| None | 3,949 (8.0%) | 2.7 a | 107 (1.4%) | 13.1% a |
| Once per month or less | 15,911 (32.0%) | 8.2 a | 1,295 (17.1%) | 11.6% a |
| 2–4 times/month | 22,322 (45.0%) | 17.1 a | 3,823 (50.5%) | 8.3% a |
| 2–3 times/week or more | 7,472 (15.0%) | 31.4 a | 2,344 (31.0%) | 8.9% a |
| Tried any other drug | ||||
| No | 42,920 (86.4%) | 5.9% a | 2,516 (33.2%) | 4.2% a |
| Yes | 6,768 (13.6%) | 74.8% a | 5,059 (66.8%) | 11.6% a |
| Attitudes and Perceptions | n (%) | % | n (%) | % |
| Legalization support | ||||
| Yes | 11,610 (23.4%) | 38.6 a | 4,477 (59.2%) | 13.6% a |
| No | 24,596 (49.6%) | 5.3 a | 1,314 (17.4%) | 2.4% a |
| Don’t know | 12,298 (27.0%) | 13.3 a | 1,775 (23.4%) | 3.1% a |
| Intended use if legalized | ||||
| Yes | 6,916 (14.0%) | 53.7% a | 3,713 (49.1%) | 17.0% a |
| No | 32,120 (64.7%) | 5.5% a | 1,763 (23.3%) | 0.9% a |
| Don’t know | 10,582 (21.3%) | 19.7% a | 2,086 (27.6%) | 2.2% a |
| Perceived risk from weekly use | ||||
| None/Low | 14,455 (29.1%) | 32.1% a | 4,643 (61.3%) | 12.8% a |
| Moderate/Large | 26,181 (52.8%) | 10.0% a | 2,624 (34.7%) | 3.5% a |
| Don’t know | 8,973 (18.1%) | 3.4% a | 301 (4.0%) | 2.3% a |
Note:
Shown are the proportions (%) of: a) past-year cannabis users vs. non-users in the entire student sample and b) frequent users (i.e., using 50 times or more up to daily) vs. less frequent user in the sub-sample of current cannabis users as a function of all predictors.
For example, 11.8% of women and 22.9% of men from our sample reported any cannabis use in the past 12 months; among those current users, 5.3% of women and 13.3% of men reported using more than 50 times (i.e., using more frequently) in the past 12 months.
Noted are also the significant differences obtained from crude logistic regression models for: a) any use vs. non-use in the entire sample, and b) more vs. less frequent use in the sub-sample of current users. For example, the above-noted gender differences translate into: a) more than twice as greater odds of cannabis use in the past 12 months for men than for women (22.9% vs. 11.8%; OR = 2.21, 95% CI = 2.1–2.3, p < . 001), and b) more than two and a half greater odds of using 50 or more times for men than for women users (13.3% vs. 5.3%; OR = 2.67, 95% CI = 2.6–3.2, p < . 001). Specifically, shared superscripts indicate significant differences across denoted categories/groups at p < 0.05 or lower.
The results from these univariable models are available upon request.