Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2022 May 26;4(1):26.
doi: 10.1186/s42238-022-00135-y.

A description of self-medication with cannabis among adults with legal access to cannabis in Quebec, Canada

Antoine Asselin #  1 , Olivier Beauparlant Lamarre #  1 , Richard Chamberland #  1 , Sarah-Jeanne McNeil #  1 , Eric Demers  2 , Arsène Zongo  3   4
Affiliations

A description of self-medication with cannabis among adults with legal access to cannabis in Quebec, Canada

Antoine Asselin et al. J Cannabis Res. .

Abstract

Objective: Cannabis is increasingly used for medical purposes, particularly in countries like Canada where cannabis was recently legalized for recreational use. We aimed to assess self-medication with cannabis post-cannabis legalization among adults in the Canadian province of Quebec.

Methods: This is a cross-sectional online survey of a self-selected convenience sample conducted in Quebec, Canada, from November 2020 to January 2021. Individuals aged ≥ 21 years who endorsed using cannabis bought in legal recreational cannabis stores to self-medicate a health condition were included. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and stratified according to sex, age, and the type of cannabis use (exclusively medical versus medical and recreational use).

Results: Four hundred eighty-nine participants were included. The median age was 34 years, and 48% were women. About 25% reported exclusive medical use of cannabis. Treated conditions included anxiety (70%), insomnia (56%), pain (53%), depression (37%), and many others. Reasons for not consulting in cannabis clinics included lack of information (52%), the complexity of the process (39%), accessibility of cannabis clinics (23%), and others. Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) dosage > 20% was reported by 32%. Smoking was the main route of use (81%). Possession of prescribed drugs was reported by 56%. Professionals consulted for information on cannabis included recreational cannabis store agents (36%), physicians (29%), and others. Overall, significant differences were observed for many of the comparisons according to sex, age, and the type of cannabis use.

Conclusions: Many conditions are self-medicated with cannabis. The use of high doses of cannabis, smoking as a preferred method of use, and concurrent use of other medications may pose some risks to individuals. Addressing the reported barriers to medical access to cannabis is urgently needed.

Keywords: Medical cannabis; Online survey; Quebec; Recreational cannabis; Self-medication.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no competing interests.

References

    1. Canadian Pharmacists Association (CPhA). CPhA medical cannabis study medical 2019 n.d. Available from: https://www.pharmacists.ca/cpha-ca/assets/File/cpha-on-the-issues/Cannab.... Accessed 5 July 2021.
    1. Gates P, Jaffe A, Copeland J. Cannabis smoking and respiratory health: consideration of the literature. Respirology. 2014;19(5):655–662. doi: 10.1111/resp.12298. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Gouvernement du Quebec. Loi encadrant le cannabis. n.d. Available from: https://encadrementcannabis.gouv.qc.ca/loi/loi-encadrant-le-cannabis/. Accessed 5 July 2021.
    1. Greenwald MK, Akcasu N, Baal P, Outlaw AY, Cohn JA, Lundahl LH. Cannabis and complementary/alternative self-treatment approaches for symptom management among African American persons living with HIV. AIDS Care. 2021:1–5. 10.1080/09540121.2021.1998311. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Hansen TM, Sabourin BC, Oketola B, Bernstein CN, Singh H, Targownik LE. Cannabis use in persons with inflammatory bowel disease and vulnerability to substance misuse. Inflamm Bowel Dis. 2020;26(9):1401–1406. doi: 10.1093/ibd/izz272. - DOI - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources