Cannabis Use After Legalization: A Look at Canada

In October 2018, Canada made a big change by legalizing cannabis for recreational use. Most studies so far have looked at the effects of this legalization using snapshots of data collected at one point in time. But what if we could follow the same people over time to see how their cannabis use changed? That's exactly what a recent study did. It used a national survey done twice, before and after legalization, to figure out who was more likely to start or stop using cannabis. The study found that people who were already using cannabis before legalization were more likely to keep using it. But there were also some surprising findings. For example, people who lived in provinces with more cannabis stores were less likely to start using cannabis. Also, people who had more negative attitudes towards cannabis before legalization were more likely to stop using it after legalization. So, what does this all mean? It shows that legalization didn't have the same effect on everyone. Some people increased their use, some decreased, and some didn't change at all. It also shows that attitudes and availability play a big role in whether people start or stop using cannabis.