An extensive new report from Health Canada, the 2024 Canadian Cannabis Survey, shows that the number of people in Canada who report smoking cannabis continues to decline. “That said, smoking remains the most common method of consuming cannabis (69 per cent), followed by eating (57 per cent) and vaporizing with a vape pen or e-cigarette (37 per cent),” the report’s authors state in an announcement about the publication’s release.
The report looks at the sources (legal and otherwise) Canadians turn to when purchasing cannabis, their patterns of use, quantities purchased, pricing, quantities consumed for medical purposes and impaired driving. It also looks at the access to information that Canadians have, their perceived exposure to and effectiveness of health warnings and their ability to identify legal establishments selling cannabis.
Impaired driving
It found that 18 per cent of people who had used cannabis in the past 12 months reported driving after use, a decline from 27 per cent in 2018. The proportion of respondents who used cannabis daily or almost daily has remained stable at approximately 25 per cent since 2018.
Based on responses from 11,666 Canadians between April and July 2024, the report found that 80 per cent of Canadians were able to answer knowledge questions about harms; just 30 per cent were aware of the longer duration of effects of edibles versus inhaled cannabis products.
Social acceptability of cannabis consumption has also risen since 2018 (the survey has been conducted annually since legalization in 2018, starting with a pilot survey conducted in 2017 in anticipation of legalization), although the acceptability of regularly eating and vaping cannabis decreased slightly when compared to 2023 responses.
Overall, 26 per cent of people over 16 years of age reported consuming cannabis for non-medical purposes in the past 12 months, an increase over the 22 per cent who said the same thing in 2018; 56 per cent of those reported using cannabis three days a month or less while 16 per cent reported daily use.
Frequency of cannabis use
“Over the seven-year period, frequency of cannabis use was generally unchanged with the exception that in 2024 more people consumed cannabis five to six times per week and fewer consumed daily compared to 2018,” the report states.
The average age of starting cannabis use was 20.7 in 2024, an increase from the average starting age of 18.9 in 2018. Notably, those consuming cannabis rarely combine their usage with other substance use. Alcohol, at 38 per cent, was the substance most commonly consumed in combination with cannabis.
“The frequency of combining alcohol or tobacco with cannabis ‘sometimes’, ‘often’ or ‘always’ decreased for both of these behaviours since 2018,” the report states. “The majority of people in Canada who consumed cannabis in the past 12 months never combined cannabis with opioids (96 per cent), sedatives (96 per cent), stimulants (93 per cent) or hallucinogens/dissociatives (90 per cent),” they state.
Only five per cent who had consumed cannabis reported needing professional help for their consumption habits; 46 per cent reported that cannabis use helped decrease their use of other medications.
