Table 2.
Self-reported cannabis use characteristics, for patients recruited pre- and post- recreational cannabis legalization (N = 1390)
| Characteristic | Total Sample (N = 1390) |
Recruited pre-legalization (n = 602) |
Recruited post-legalization (n = 788) |
p value |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Self-reported cannabis use; n (%) | 742 (53.4%) | 330 (54.8%) | 412 (52.3%) | 0.348 |
| Days of use in the last 30 days amongst users; median (IQR) | 30 (20) | 30 (16) | 30 (20) | 0.540 |
| Frequency of use; n (%) | 0.896 | |||
| Daily | 492 (66.4%) | 216 (65.5%) | 276 (67.2%) | |
| Every other day | 41 (5.5%) | 21 (6.4%) | 20 (4.9%) | |
| 2–3 times per week | 91 (12.3%) | 45 (13.6%) | 46 (11.2%) | |
| Once weekly | 32 (4.3%) | 12 (3.6%) | 20 (4.9%) | |
| 2–3 times per month | 85 (11.5%) | 36 (10.9%) | 49 (11.9%) | |
| Dollars spent on cannabis per week (CAD); median (IQR) | 25 (60) | 30 (65) | 20 (50) | 0.023 |
| Source of cannabis; n (%) | 0.932 | |||
| Dispensary | 123 (16.6%) | 51 (15.5%) | 72 (17.5%) | |
| Medical Prescription | 30 (4.1%) | 17 (5.2%) | 13 (3.2%) | |
| Vape Shop | 16 (2.2%) | 12 (3.6%) | 4 (1%) | |
| Family/friends | 276 (37.3%) | 109 (33%) | 167 (40.6%) | |
| Street | 196 (26.5%) | 103 (31.2%) | 93 (22.6%) | |
| Other | 100 (13.5%) | 38 (11.5%) | 62 (15.1%) | |
| Route of cannabis use; n (%) | 0.708 | |||
| Inhaled | 527 (71.2%) | 237 (71.8%) | 290 (70.4%) | |
| Oral Ingestion | 53 (7.1%) | 21 (6.4%) | 32 (7.8%) | |
| Oil | 45 (6.1%) | 19 (5.8%) | 26 (6.3%) | |
| Other | 117 (15.8%) | 53 (16.1%) | 64 (15.5%) | |
| Reasons for cannabis usea; n (%) | ||||
| To get high | 297 (21.4%) | 128 (21.3%) | 169 (21.5%) | |
| Relaxation | 588 (42.3%) | 263 (43.7%) | 325 (41.2%) | |
| Pain relief | 400 (28.8%) | 179 (29.7%) | 221 (28.1%) | |
| Prescribed medication | 74 (5.3%) | 44 (7.3%) | 30 (3.8%) | |
| Appetite stimulation | 335 (24.1%) | 154 (25.6%) | 181 (23%) | |
| Peer pressure | 142 (10.2%) | 58 (9.6%) | 84 (10.7%) | |
| Pleasure | 358 (25.8%) | 176 (29.2%) | 182 (23.1%) | |
| Stress relief | 516 (37.1%) | 223 (37%) | 293 (37.2%) | |
| Boredom | 285 (20.5%) | 126 (20.9%) | 159 (20.2%) | |
| Social anxiety relief | 284 (20.4%) | 138 (22.9%) | 146 (18.5%) | |
| Sleep promotion | 503 (36.2%) | 230 (38.2%) | 273 (34.6%) | |
| Instead of opioids | 287 (20.7%) | 133 (22.1%) | 154 (19.5%) | |
| Opioid withdrawal/craving relief | 243 (17.5%) | 108 (17.9%) | 135 (17.1%) | |
| Cannabis withdrawal/craving relief | 83 (6%) | 36 (6%) | 47 (6%) | |
Self-reported cannabis use characteristics
IQR interquartile range, CAD Canadian Dollars
aSelf-reported reasons for cannabis use; participants could indicate more than one reason