Correlates of Self-Reported Medicinal Cannabis Use for Physical Health, Mental Health, and Sleep-Related Conditions in a Population-Based Survey of Canadian Youth

Abstract

Medicinal cannabis use (MCU) among youth is correlated with frequent cannabis use and multiple substance use and health-related indicators. This study examined whether correlates of self-reported MCU among youth varied as a function of the primary health condition for which cannabis is used. Data were drawn from the 2017 Canadian Tobacco, Alcohol, and Drugs Survey. Youth (ages 15-24) who reported past-year cannabis use were included in these analyses. Regression analyses (controlling for age and sex) compared youth reporting only nonmedicinal cannabis use (NMCU only, n = 2,082) to youth reporting MCU for physical health conditions (n = 227), mental health conditions (n = 271), or insomnia (n = 98). Relative to youth reporting NMCU only, youth reporting MCU for physical or mental health conditions had greater odds of reporting daily cannabis use, cannabis problems, vaporization and oral ingestion of cannabis, and tobacco use. Youth reporting MCU for physical health reasons also had greater odds of both illicit drug use and prescription pain medication use, whereas youth reporting MCU for mental health reasons had greater odds of prescription sedative use. Youth in both the physical health and mental health MCU groups reported poorer health and mental health compared with the NMCU-only group. Youth reporting MCU for insomnia had greater odds of cannabis problems relative to youth in the NMCU-only group, but there were no other differences between these groups. Findings provide new insight into the correlates of MCU among youth in the Canadian population, suggesting that these correlates vary as a function of the primary reason for MCU.