Dataset Information

Access to cannabis retail stores across Canada 6 months following legalization: a descriptive study.

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND:On Oct. 17, 2018, Canada legalized recreational cannabis with the dual goals of reducing youth use and eliminating the illicit cannabis market. We examined factors associated with access to physical cannabis stores across Canada 6 months following legalization. METHODS:We extracted the address and operating hours of all legal cannabis stores in Canada from online government and private listings. We conducted a descriptive study examining the association between private/hybrid (mixture of government and private stores) and government-only retail models with 4 measures of physical access to cannabis: store density, weekly hours of operation, median distance to the nearest school and relative availability of cannabis stores between low- and high-income neighbourhoods. RESULTS:Six months after legalization, there were 260 cannabis retail stores across Canada: 181 privately run stores, 55 government-run stores and 24 stores in the hybrid retail system. Compared to jurisdictions with a government-run model, jurisdictions with a private/hybrid retail model had 49% (95% confidence interval 10%-200%) more stores per capita, retailers were open on average 9.2 more hours per week, and stores were located closer to schools (median 166.7 m). In both retail models, there was over twice the concentration of cannabis stores in neighbourhoods in the lowest income quintile compared to the highest income quintile. INTERPRETATION:Marked differences in physical access to cannabis retail are emerging between jurisdictions with private/hybrid retail models and those with government-only retail models. Ongoing surveillance including monitoring differences in cannabis use and harms across jurisdictions is needed.

SUBMITTER: Myran DT

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6715107 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Jul-Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Publications

Access to cannabis retail stores across Canada 6 months following legalization: a descriptive study.

Myran Daniel T DT Brown Catherine R L CRL Tanuseputro Peter P

CMAJ open 20190701 3

<h4>Background</h4>On Oct. 17, 2018, Canada legalized recreational cannabis with the dual goals of reducing youth use and eliminating the illicit cannabis market. We examined factors associated with access to physical cannabis stores across Canada 6 months following legalization.<h4>Methods</h4>We extracted the address and operating hours of all legal cannabis stores in Canada from online government and private listings. We conducted a descriptive study examining the association between private/ ...[more]

PMID: 31409593

Similar Datasets

Project description:ImportancePrior research suggests that the legalization of recreational cannabis is associated with increases in cannabis hyperemesis syndrome (CHS), but it is unclear how cannabis commercialization (ie, greater retail store access as well as increased variety and potency of cannabis products) may be associated with these changes.ObjectivesTo examine changes in the number and characteristics of CHS emergency department (ED) visits from before to after legalization of cannabis in Ontario, Canada.Design, setting, and participantsThis repeated cross-sectional study used interrupted time-series analyses to examine immediate and gradual changes in ED visits for CHS in Ontario, Canada, during 3 time periods: prelegalization (January 2014-September 2018), legalization with product and retail store restrictions (October 2018-February 2020), and commercialization with new products and expanded stores, which coincided with the COVID-19 pandemic (March 2020-June 2021). Data were obtained from routinely collected and linked health administrative databases. All individuals aged at least 15 years and who were eligible for Ontario's Universal Health Coverage were included. Data were analyzed between March and July 2022.Main outcomes and measuresMonthly counts of ED visits for CHS per capita.ResultsThere were 12 866 ED visits for CHS from 8140 individuals during the study. Overall, the mean (SD) age was 27.4 (10.5) years, with 2834 individuals (34.8%) aged 19 to 24 years, 4163 (51.5%) females, and 1353 individuals (16.6%) with a mental health ED visit or hospitalization in the 2 years before their first CHS ED visit. Nearly 10% of visits (1135 visits [8.8%]) led to hospital admissions. Monthly rates of CHS ED visits increased 13-fold during the 7.5-year study period, from 0.26 visits per 100 000 population in January 2014 to 3.43 visits per 100 000 population in June 2021. Legalization was not associated with an immediate or gradual change in rates of ED visits for CHS; however, commercialization during the COVID-19 pandemic period was associated with an immediate increase in rates of CHS ED visits (incidence rate ratio [IRR], 1.49; 95% CI, 1.31-1.70). During commercialization, rates of CHS ED visits increased more in women (IRR, 1.49; 95% CI, 1.16-1.92) and individuals older than the legal age of cannabis purchase (eg, age 19-24 years: IRR, 1.60; 95% CI, 1.19-2.16) than men (IRR, 1.08; 95% CI, 0.85-1.37) and individuals younger than the legal age of purchase (IRR, 0.78; 95% CI, 0.42-1.45).Conclusions and relevanceThis cross-sectional study found large increases in CHS ED visits during the period of time when the market commercialized and the COVID-19 pandemic occurred. Greater awareness of CHS symptoms by ED staff in regions where legal commercialized cannabis markets exist is indicated.

Project description:ImportanceLittle is known about changes in cannabis use outcomes by race and ethnicity following the enactment of recreational cannabis laws (RCLs).ObjectivesTo examine the association between enactment of state RCLs and changes in cannabis outcomes by race and ethnicity overall and by age groups in the US.Design, setting, and participantsThis cross-sectional study used restricted use file data from the National Surveys of Drug Use and Health between 2008 and 2017, which were analyzed between September 2019 and March 2020. National survey data included the entire US population older than 12 years.Main outcomes and measuresSelf-reported past-year and past-month cannabis use and, among people that used cannabis, daily past-month cannabis use and past-year Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (Fifth Edition) cannabis use disorder. Multi-level logistic regressions were fit to estimates changes in cannabis use outcomes by race and ethnicity overall and by age between respondents in states with and without enacted RCLs, controlling for trends in states with medical cannabis laws or no cannabis laws.ResultsA total of 838 600 participants were included for analysis (mean age, 43 years [range, 12-105 years]; 434 900 women [weighted percentage, 51.5%]; 511 900 participants (weighted percentage, 64.6%) identified as non-Hispanic White, 99 000 (11.9%) as non-Hispanic Black, 78 400 (15.8%) as Hispanic, and 149 200 (7.6%) as other (including either Native American, Pacific Islander, Asian, or more than 1 race or ethnicity). Compared with the period before RCL enactment, the odds of past-year cannabis use after RCL enactment increased among Hispanic (adjusted odds ratio [aOR], 1.33; 95% CI, 1.15-1.52), other (aOR, 1.31; 95% CI, 1.12-1.52), and non-Hispanic White (aOR, 1.21; 95% CI, 1.12-1.31) populations, particularly among those aged 21 years or more. Similarly, the odds of past-month cannabis use increased among Hispanic (aOR, 1.43; 95% CI, 1.22-1.69), other (aOR, 1.43; 95% CI, 1.20-1.70), and non-Hispanic White (aOR, 1.24; 95% CI, 1.13-1.35) populations after RCL enactment. No increases were found in the odds of past-year or past-month cannabis use post-RCL enactment among non-Hispanic Black individuals or among individuals aged 12 to 20 years for all race and ethnicity groups. In addition, among people who used cannabis, while no increases were found in past-month daily cannabis in any racial or ethnic group, the odds of cannabis use disorder increased post-RCL among individuals categorized as other overall (aOR, 1.45; 95% CI, 1.07-1.95), but no increases were found by age group.Conclusions and relevanceChanges in cannabis use by race and ethnicity that may be attributable to policy enactment and variations in recreational policy provisions should be monitored. To ensure that the enactment of recreational cannabis laws truly contributes to greater equity in outcomes and adheres to antiracist policies, monitoring unintended and intended consequences that may be attributable to recreational cannabis use and similar policies by race and ethnicity is needed.

Project description:Background: Among youth already using cannabis, legalization of medical cannabis may influence cannabis-related attitudes and behaviors, including increasing access through use of someone else's medical cannabis (diversion). Objective: To examine cannabis-related attitudes and behaviors (including diverted cannabis use) in cannabis-using youth in the four years following medical cannabis legalization. Additionally, we investigated characteristics of youth who used vs. did not use diverted medical cannabis. Methods: Data were collected in Boston from 2013 (when medical cannabis legislation took effect in Massachusetts) through 2016 (when recreational cannabis use became legal in Massachusetts). Cannabis-using youth (age 13-24) presenting to an outpatient adolescent substance use treatment program (ASUTP) or recruited for an adolescent medicine clinic study (AMCS) completed a confidential survey on demographic characteristics and cannabis use behaviors and attitudes. We used multiple logistic regression to analyze changes in attitudes and behaviors over three years versus the reference year (2013), controlling for demographics. We used chi-square to compare characteristics of youth reporting use of diverted medical cannabis versus those not. Results: The sample included 273 cannabis-using youth (ASUTP n = 203, AMCS n = 70; 2013 n = 67, 2014 n = 67, 2015 n = 77, 2016 n = 62). Mean ± SD age was 18.2 ± 2.5 years, 32% were female, 58% were White non-Hispanic, and 70% had college-graduate parents. In 2013, most youth reported that cannabis was easy to obtain (97.9%), and that occasional cannabis use had "no" or "slight" risk of harm (89.4%), with little change across years. In 2016, 44% of youth reported using someone else's medical cannabis, versus 15% in 2013 (aOR 4.66, 95% CI 1.81, 11.95). Youth using diverted medical cannabis had higher likelihood of reporting riding with a driver, or driving themselves, after cannabis use (both p < .01). Conclusion: Among at-risk youth in Massachusetts, use of diverted medical cannabis increased after medical cannabis legalization, and those using diverted medical cannabis reported higher risk for cannabis-related traffic injury.

Project description:ImportanceThe impact of nonmedical cannabis legalization on traffic injuries and cannabis involvement in traffic injuries is unclear.ObjectiveTo examine changes in the number and characteristics of cannabis-involved traffic injury emergency department (ED) visits from before to after legalization and subsequent commercialization (ie, increased retail store and product availability) of cannabis in Ontario, Canada.Design, setting, and participantsThis repeated cross-sectional study examined changes in cannabis- and alcohol-involved traffic injury ED visits in Ontario, Canada, during 3 time periods: prelegalization (January 2010-September 2018), legalization with product and retail store restrictions (October 2018-February 2020), and commercialization with new products and expanded number of stores, which coincided with the COVID-19 pandemic (March 2020-December 2021). All individuals aged 16 years and older eligible for Ontario's Universal Health Coverage were included. Season- and time-adjusted quasi-Poisson models were used to generate rate ratios with 95% CIs. Data were analyzed from March to April 2023.Main outcomes and measuresQuarterly counts of cannabis-involved ED visits for traffic injury.ResultsThere were 947 604 traffic injury ED visits, of which 426 (0.04%) had documented cannabis involvement and 7564 (0.8%) had documented alcohol involvement. Of the 418 individuals with documented cannabis involvement, 330 (78.9%) were male, 109 (25.6%) were aged 16 to 21 years (mean [SD] age at visit, 30.6 [12.0] years), and 113 (27.0%) had an ED visit or hospitalization for substance use in the 2 years before their traffic injury ED visit. Annual rates of cannabis-involved traffic injury ED visits increased 475.3% over the study period (0.18 visits per 1000 total motor vehicle collisions in 2010 to 1.01 in 2021). Over the same period, alcohol-involved traffic injury ED visits increased by 9.4% (8.03 in 2010 to 8.79 per 1000 traffic injury ED visits in 2021). Legalization with restrictions was associated with a 94% increase in the quarterly rate of cannabis involvement in traffic injury ED visits relative to prelegalization (adjusted rate ratio [aRR], 1.94; 95% CI, 1.37-2.75). Commercialization/COVID-19 was associated with a greater increase of 223% in rates (aRR, 3.23; 95% CI, 2.42-4.33). After adjusting for time trends before legalization, only commercialization/COVID-19 was associated with increased rates. Male sex (adjusted odds ratio [aOR], 3.38; 95% CI, 2.66-4.29), living in the lowest-income neighborhood (aOR, 1.92; 95% CI, 1.39-2.67), being aged 19 to 21 years (aOR, 4.67; 95% CI, 3.27-6.67), and having a prior cannabis-related ED visit (aOR, 8.03; 95% CI, 5.85-11.02) were all positively associated with cannabis involvement during a traffic injury ED visit.Conclusions and relevanceThis cross-sectional study found large increases in cannabis involvement in ED visits for traffic injury over time, which may have accelerated following nonmedical cannabis commercialization. Although the frequency of visits was rare, they may reflect broader changes in cannabis-impaired driving. Greater prevention efforts, including targeted education and policy measures, in regions with legal cannabis are indicated.

Dataset Information

Access to cannabis retail stores across Canada 6 months following legalization: a descriptive study.

Publications

Access to cannabis retail stores across Canada 6 months following legalization: a descriptive study.

Similar Datasets

OmicsDI is part of the ELIXIR infrastructure

Tweets