Canadians over 45 years old are more likely to consume topicals than those under 25 years old, while younger Canadians are four times more likely to vape, a new Statistics Canada study says.
The National Cannabis Survey asked 2,251 young adults aged 18 to 24 years and 5,185 adults aged 25 years and older about their cannabis consumption habits across ten provinces in the last year.
Although cannabis comes in many forms, the report found respondents most commonly consume dried flowers and edibles.
Cannabis vape pens or cartridges rank third. The survey determined more than 30 per cent of men and women consume cannabis in this manner.
Meanwhile, adults under 25 years old are almost four times more likely to vape cannabis than those over 45 years old.
Vaporizing cannabis has been found to avoid toxic by-products and carcinogens, decreasing the risk of respiratory diseases associated with smoking, according to the National Centre for Biotechnology Information.
The survey also found that older adults are almost half as likely to drink cannabis than those under 25 years old, according to the survey.
New cannabis-infused beverages sold by pot shops have been rising in the last few years in Toronto, such as CAFE Dispensary as well as major cannabis manufacturer The Valens Company.
The survey also noted 71 per cent of men consume flower cannabis compared to around 52 per cent of women.
Whereas, women consume edible cannabis products about 10 per cent more than men.
These gendered habits might be explained by Canadians adhering to stereotypical social norms.
Boys and young men may use substances to support the social norm of being “masculine” as mentioned in a review by International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health.
“Femininity may be associated with lower risk of substance use because using substances may be incompatible with aspects of this [social] construct, such as gentleness and showing attention to others,” the journal published.
Lastly, almost 10 per cent of men and women over 18 years old use cannabis daily. “Frequent cannabis use may be a sign of dependence,” Statistics Canada stated in the report.
Editor’s note: This article previously stated incorrect data on the amount of cannabis drinks consumed by older and younger Canadians but that has since been corrected.
