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 Dec 12;19(1):138.
doi: 10.1186/s12954-022-00691-9.

The quality of health information provided on web sites selling cannabis to consumers in Canada is poor

Jeremy Y Ng  1 , Umair Tahir  2 , Nicholas Lum  2
Affiliations

The quality of health information provided on web sites selling cannabis to consumers in Canada is poor

Jeremy Y Ng et al. Harm Reduct J. .

Abstract

Background: Cannabis is used by millions of people for both medical and recreational purposes, and this use is even greater in jurisdictions where it is legalized, such as Canada. Online cannabis vendors have gained popularity for purchasing cannabis due to easy access and convenience to consumers. The objective of this study was to evaluate the quality of health information provided by web sites of cannabis vendors selling products to Canadian consumers and to further identify trends in the information provided.

Methods: Six different searches were conducted on Google.ca, and the first 40 webpages of each search were screened for eligibility. A total of 33 unique web sites of cannabis vendors selling products to Canadian consumers were identified and included. The DISCERN instrument, which consists of 16 questions divided into three sections, was used to evaluate the quality of cannabis-related health information on these web sites.

Results: Across the 33 web sites, the average of the summed DISCERN scores was 36.83 (SD = 9.73) out of 75, and the mean score for the overall quality of the publication (DISCERN question 16) was 2.41 (SD = 0.71) out of 5. Many of these web sites failed to discuss uncertainties in research evidence on cannabis, the impact of cannabis use on quality of life, alternatives to cannabis use, risks associated with cannabis use, and lacked references to support claims on effects and benefits of use.

Conclusion: Our findings indicate that the quality of cannabis-related health information provided by online vendors is poor. Healthcare providers should be aware that patients may use these web sites as primary sources of information and appropriately caution patients while directing them to high-quality sources. Future research should serve to replicate this study in other jurisdictions and assess the accuracy of information provided by online cannabis vendors, as this was outside the scope of the DISCERN instrument.

Keywords: Cannabis (medical or recreational); Consumer health information; DISCERN; Information assessment; Quality of information.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
web information search strategy and assessment flowchart
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. Vereinte Nationen O on D and C. World drug report 2021 [Internet]. 2022 [cited 2022 Apr 14]. Available from: https://www.un-ilibrary.org/content/books/9789210058032.
    1. Page RL, Allen LA, Kloner RA, Carriker CR, Martel C, Morris AA, et al. Medical marijuana, recreational cannabis, and cardiovascular health: a scientific statement from the American heart association. Circulation. 2020 doi: 10.1161/CIR.0000000000000883. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Metrik J, Bassett SS, Aston ER, Jackson KM, Borsari B. Medicinal versus recreational cannabis use among returning veterans. Transl Issues Psychol Sci. 2018;4(1):6–20. doi: 10.1037/tps0000133. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Zhang MW, Ho RCM. The cannabis dilemma: a review of its associated risks and clinical efficacy. J Addict. 2015;2015:1–6. doi: 10.1155/2015/707596. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Ebbert JO, Scharf EL, Hurt RT. Medical cannabis. Mayo Clin Proc. 2018;93(12):1842–1847. doi: 10.1016/j.mayocp.2018.09.005. - DOI - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources