Trends in cannabis use and attitudes toward legalization and use among Australians from 2001–2016: an age‐period‐cohort analysis

Abstract

Background and Aims Changes in cannabis legalization and availability in Australia necessitate monitoring use and attitudes. We estimated age–period–cohort effects of past‐year cannabis use and attitudes toward criminalization and legalization. Design Analysis of six waves of the Australian National Drug Strategy Household Survey (NDSHS) every 3 years (2001–2016). Setting and participants The study was nationally representative of Australian households using multistage random sampling, totaling 145 168 respondents 18–79 years old. Data were collected using telephone, face‐to‐face, and drop‐and‐collect. Sample sizes per analysis varied based on data availability (~107 000–127 000 per model). Measurements Six waves of data for past‐year cannabis use (by sex and education), attitudes toward criminalization and legalization. Findings Past‐year cannabis use decreased in young adults ages 18–35 from 2001–2016 (25.1%–18.6%) and increased in middle adults ages 36–55 (8.6%–10.1%) and older adults ages 56–79 (0.6%–3.0%). We observed a positive period effect and negative cohort effect for recent cohorts for past‐year use (e.g. 1955 cohort had 1.41 (95% CI: [1.11, 1.70]) increased log odds vs. 1998 cohort had −2.86 (95% CI: [−3.17, −2.55]) increased log odds) compared with the mean across years. Results were consistent by sex and varied by education. We observed a negative period effect for criminalization favorability (0.14 (95% CI: [0.003, 0.28]) increased log odds in 2001 vs. ‐0.31 (95% CI: [−0.45, −0.17]) increased log odds in 2016) and positive cohort effect for recent cohorts. Last, we observed a positive period effect for legalization support (−0.03 (95% CI: [−0.20, 0.14]) increased log odds in 2001 vs. 0.38 (95% CI: [0.22, 0.55]) increased log odds in 2016) and negative cohort effect for recent cohorts. Conclusion Cannabis use appears to be increasing in Australia among adults over 35, while decreasing among adolescents and young adults. Legalization support also appears to have been increasing since 2007, signaling discordance between use and attitudes among adolescents and young adults, and potentially predicting increases in use over time.

Evaluation of Acute Cannabis Intoxication in Pre- School Children Admitted to Poison Control Center –Ain Shams University Hospitals

“…They are distributed in the central nervous system and many peripheral tissues (De Meijer, 2014). Both receptor types are G-protein linked receptors that inhibit adenyl cyclase and thus, inhibiting the conversion of ATP to cAMP (Kaur et al, 2016). Activation of the CB1 receptor produces marijuana like effects, while activation of the CB2 receptor does not produce this psychological effect, so selective CB2 receptor agonists have become an increasingly investigated target for therapeutic uses of cannabinoids, C among them analgesic, anti-inflammatory and antineoplastic actions (Abrams, 2018).…”

Using ecological momentary assessment and a portable device to quantify standard tetrahydrocannabinol units for cannabis flower smoking

“…others, whether the participant also vaped oil or ingested an edible that day, whether cannabis flower smoked was less potent than typical strain, whether cannabis flower smoked was more potent than typical strain, age, gender, hour after wake, phase of study (COVID vs pre-COVID), and CUDIT-R scores. 3…”

“…Given the increasing legalization of medicinal and recreational cannabis in the United States (US) and internationally, along with a decrease in perceived harmfulness [1], both cannabis use and cannabis use disorder (CUD) appear to be on the rise [2][3][4][5][6]. Past-year and lifetime prevalence rates of CUD in the US are estimated at 2.5% and 6.3%, respectively [7].…”

Validation of a new instrument for assessing attitudes on psychedelics in the general population

“…As it is difficult to obtain a sample truly representative of the general population, future studies should define cut-offs for APQ scores by applying the questionnaire in specific populations, such as psychologists or psychiatrists. There is currently a growing body of literature on attitudes on cannabis exploring harm perception and attitudes of various population groups as a proxy measure of cannabis use 44 – 46 . Our instrument could be similarly used to provide context surrounding the introduction of psychedelics as a form of therapy.…”