Adherence to Lower-Risk Cannabis Use Guidelines among Canadian college students: a regression analysis

The objective of this study is to evaluate adherence to seven Canadian Lower-Risk Cannabis Use Guideline (LRCUG) recommendations among Canadian university students and identify subgroups of high-risk users.

We analyzed survey data collected across four Canadian universities under the World Mental Health-International College Student (WMH-ICS) initiative. Seven of the ten 2017 LRCUG recommendations were evaluated. Zero-inflated Poisson models were employed to examine the sociodemographic correlates of (1) any lifetime cannabis use; and (2) the number of unmet LRCUG recommendations, conditional on lifetime use. Additionally, multivariable binary logistic regression models examined the sociodemographic correlates of adherence to individual recommendations.

Among the 27 236 respondents, the prevalence of lifetime cannabis use was 33.8%. Of the seven recommendations evaluated, "choosing lower-strength cannabis products" had the lowest adherence rate (29.0%), followed by "not smoking cannabis" (36.7%). "Not using synthetic cannabis" had the highest adherence rate (96.1%), followed by "delaying cannabis use until age 16" (91.2%). Men, non-heterosexual students, students living in shared housing, and domestic students were more likely to use cannabis and, among users, reported risky use. While White students were more likely to use cannabis, among users, many non-White student groups reported riskier use.

Although most students did not use cannabis and many of the LRCUG recommendations had high rates of adherence, there were low rates of choosing lower-strength cannabis products and avoiding smoking cannabis among users. Study findings highlight specific recommendations and subpopulations to inform tailoring of future interventions targeting university students.