Nearly two-thirds of adults who use cannabis present a low risk of developing cannabis use disorder, according to research examining patterns of consumption four to five years after Canadian legalisation.
The study, published in the Journal of Cannabis Research, analysed data from 731 Quebec adults in their mid-thirties and found that 63% of past-year cannabis users showed low risk of problematic use.
“Lower-risk cannabis users resemble non-users more than higher-risk users,” explained Guillaume Dubé, lead author of the study. “The latter are more often male, have lower levels of education, and present more mental health problems, particularly anxiety.”
Jean-Sébastien Fallu, professor at the Université de Montréal School of Psychoeducation and co-author, said: “This research supports a change in attitude and perspective: rather than focusing almost exclusively on at-risk consumption profiles or those associated with problems, let’s turn our attention to an aspect too often unconsidered, even obscured—that is, non-problematic cannabis use.”
Frequency of use emerged as the factor most strongly associated with high risk of cannabis use disorder. However, the study revealed other significant risk factors, including simultaneous cannabis and tobacco use and smoking in general, as well as anxiety symptoms.
Cannabis use in a social context, rather than alone, was associated with a lower risk of dependency. Women and people who simultaneously used cannabis and alcohol were also more likely to have lower-risk use patterns.
“We also observed that people who used alcohol and cannabis simultaneously had a lower risk of CUD than those who used cannabis without alcohol. This may seem surprising, but we hypothesised that when these two substances are used together, it’s in a social context, which is the true beneficial factor. This remains to be demonstrated, however,” Dubé said.
Conversely, tobacco and cannabis use proved an important risk factor distinguishing higher-risk users from lower-risk users.
The research suggests that public health initiatives and further research should also focus on non-problematic use patterns rather than solely examining risk and dependency.
“Our results underscore the importance of harm reduction strategies and evidence-based education for cannabis-related policies,” said study lead Marie-Pierre Sylvestre.
The research team recommended that public health authorities provide factual information about cannabis effects, both positive and negative.
“Like alcohol, cannabis has been consumed since the dawn of humanity. Psychoactive substance use carries risks, regardless of the substance. For adults who wish to use cannabis, there are practices to maximise its benefits and reduce these risks,” Dubé concluded.
The research was based on the longitudinal Nicotine Dependence in Teens study, which has been following Quebecers since 1999. The data were collected in 2022-2023, four to five years after cannabis legalisation in Canada.