Sociodemographic Trends in Daily, Weekly and Less Than Weekly Cannabis Use in Australia

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Epidemiology
• Sociology

Background:

• Cannabis use patterns and associated sociodemographic disparities in Australia have been a focus of public health research.
• Previous data from 2001-2013 indicated a widening gap in frequent cannabis use between socioeconomic groups.

Purpose of the Study:

• To examine contemporary trends in the frequency of cannabis use in Australia up to 2022/23.
• To investigate evolving sociodemographic disparities in cannabis use patterns over time.

Main Methods:

• Utilized data from eight waves of the National Drug Strategy Household Surveys (NDSHS) conducted between 2001 and 2022/23 (N=197,484).
• Employed multinomial regression models to analyze associations between past 12-month cannabis use frequency (daily, weekly, less than weekly, no use), survey year, and sociodemographic factors.
• Examined interactions between survey year and sociodemographic variables to assess changes in disparities.

Main Results:

• Daily cannabis use increased from 1.67% in 2019 to 2.17% in 2022/23, while weekly and less frequent use remained stable.
• Higher frequency cannabis use was associated with being male, younger age, living in outer regional/rural areas, being unpartnered, lower educational attainment, and higher socioeconomic disadvantage.
• Increases in daily cannabis use were more pronounced among middle-aged and older adults, with a smaller effect observed when excluding medicinal cannabis use.

Conclusions:

• Daily cannabis use in Australia showed an increase in 2022/23, with medicinal use contributing to this rise.
• Persistent sociodemographic disparities in cannabis use highlight ongoing inequalities.
• Continued surveillance is essential to monitor trends and identify strategies to mitigate disparities in cannabis consumption.