Did cannabis use increase in Canada after legalisation?

Embargoed until: Publicly released: 2023-09-28 01:00

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When it comes to cannabis legalisation, a key concern is that use and related harms would increase among young people, but a Canadian study suggests this may not be the case. The team surveyed 619 high-risk young adults every four months for three years between February 2017 and February 2020, with recreational cannabis legalised in Canada in 2018. The team found those using cannabis frequently pre-legalisation showed reductions in use consistent with expected ‘aging out’ patterns of substance use, while those not using cannabis pre-legalisation showed a modest increase in use over time. As cannabis is trending towards being legalised in more countries globally, the team suggests further studies of this kind may help inform public policy and inform the public about the consequences of cannabis legalisation.

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Journal/
conference: JAMA Network Open

Research:Paper

Organisation/s: McMaster University, Canada

Funder: Data collection for the data used in this study was funded by CIHR and Dr MacKillop’s Peter Boris Chair in Addictions Research and Canada Research Chair in Translational Addiction Research. Dr MacKillop reported receiving grants from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) and grants from the Canada Research Chairs Program during the conduct of the study; serving as principal and senior scientist for Beam Diagnostics, Inc; and has received personal fees from Clairvoyant Therapeutics, Inc. No other disclosures were reported.

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