Understanding the relationship between recreational cannabis use and mental health in a marginalized population
Barr, A. M., Panenka, W. J., MacCallum, C. A., Lo, L. A., Yau, J. C.., Rintoul, K., & Schjelderup, L.
This study aimed to understand cannabis use in a disadvantaged group of people in Vancouver, BC with high rates of mental health issues. One hundred participants were assessed for problematic cannabis use (PCU) and other mental health variables.
Few differences in mental health were found between age groups, except for participants under age 30 being more likely to report having been diagnosed with bipolar disorder in the past and use of cannabis for depression or sleep issues. Cannabis use for anxiety was the most frequently reported reason among all age groups. Results showed that smoking was the preferred consumption method across all demographic groups, and compared to participants who preferred ingesting cannabis, those who preferred inhaling (i.e., smoking or vaping) used cannabis more frequently and in greater quantities, and reported a stronger preference for THC-dominant strains. A preference for CBD-dominant strains was found among those who mostly ingested cannabis.
The final set of analyses showed that people with PCU (30% of the sample) were more likely to have started using cannabis at a younger age and to report using cannabis to self-treat depression. Researchers recommend that future research use larger sample sizes to better clarify the associations between age, use patterns, and mental health outcomes. They also recommend future research compare risk factors and mental health outcomes between people who self-medicate with cannabis and people who use medical cannabis prescribed by healthcare professionals.
Publications:
Lo, L.A., MacCallum, C. A., Yau, J. C., Panenka, W. J., & Barr, A. M. (2023). Are younger medical cannabis users at risk? Comparing patterns of use and mental health in younger and older medical cannabis dispensary users. Children and Teenagers, 6(2), 1-14. https://doi.org/10.22158/ct.v6n2p1
Lo, L. A., MacCallum, C. A., Yau, J. C., & Barr, A. M. (2022). Differences in those who prefer smoking cannabis to other consumption forms for mental health: what can be learned to promote safer methods of consumption?. Journal of addictive diseases, 1–5. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1080/10550887.2022.2107332
Lo, L. A., MacCallum, C. A., Yau, J. C., Panenka, W. J., & Barr, A. M. (2022). Factors associated with problematic cannabis use in a sample of medical cannabis dispensary users. Psychiatry and clinical psychopharmacology, 32(3), 262-267. https://doi.org/10.5152/pcp.2022.22358