Cannabis use among middle and high school students in Ontario: a school-based cross-sectional study

Cannabis use can have serious detrimental effects in children and adolescents. It is therefore important to continually assess the use of cannabis among young people in order to inform prevention efforts. We assessed the prevalence of cannabis use among middle and high school students in Ontario and examined its association with demographic and behavioural factors.

Data were obtained from the 2015 Ontario Student Drug Use and Health Survey, a province-wide school-based survey of students in grades 7 through 12. Analyses included a representative sample of 9920 middle and high school students. Bivariate cross-tabulations and logistic regression analyses were used to investigate the factors associated with cannabis use.

Overall, 21.5% and 13.9% of students reported using cannabis in the previous year and previous month, respectively. The conditional probability that an adolescent who reported cannabis use in the previous year would report daily use was 12.5%. There was a significant dose-response gradient with age, with older students being more likely to use cannabis than younger students. In multivariable analyses, being in grades 10 through 12 (odds ratios [ORs] ranged from 3.71 to 3.85), being black (OR 2.67 [95% confidence interval (CI) 1.76-4.05]), using tobacco cigarettes (OR 10.10 [95% CI 8.68-13.92]) and being an occasional (OR 5.35 [95% CI 4.01-7.13]) or regular (OR 14.6 [95% CI 10.8-19.89]) alcohol user were associated with greater odds of cannabis use. Being an immigrant was associated with lower odds of cannabis use (OR 0.55 [95% CI 0.39-0.78]).

The findings suggest that cannabis use is prevalent among middle and high school students in Ontario and is strongly associated with tobacco cigarette smoking and alcohol consumption. Future research should document trends in cannabis use over time, including its risks, especially when the legalization of recreational cannabis comes into effect.