Disentangling Medicinal and Recreational Cannabis Use among Young Adults

Roughly 1 in 4 young adults who use cannabis report doing so to self-medicate physical and mental health symptoms. Prior studies show that using cannabis for self-medication is associated with heavier cannabis use and risk for cannabis harms among young adults. However, because most young adults who use cannabis for medicinal reasons also engage in recreational cannabis use, cannabis use behaviours and outcomes that are specific to medicinal cannabis use remain poorly understood. This study will use a smartphone-based approach to help disentangle medicinal and recreational cannabis use behaviours among young adults. For a period of 2 weeks, young adults who use cannabis for both medicinal and recreational reasons will use a smartphone app to report their motives, cannabis use behaviours, and immediate outcomes of cannabis use each time they use cannabis. Data will be used to examine whether medicinal and recreational motives for cannabis use are linked with different contexts of use, different cannabis products used, and different consequences of use among young adults. Participants will also complete follow-up assessments over a one-year period to examine whether patterns of medicinal cannabis use are linked with longer-term changes in cannabis use and cannabis problems. Our team includes experts in cannabis use, youth health, and smartphone-based research methods, as well as young adults with lived experience who will facilitate youth engagement and outreach. Results will inform ongoing developments in cannabis-related policies in Canada and will also inform interventions designed to support young adults who use cannabis for medicinal reasons. Our partnership with the Youth Engagement Initiative at Centre for Addiction and Mental Health will support efforts to share the findings broadly with youth and their healthcare providers across Canada.