Tuesday, July 27, 2004

SPOTLIGHT: Health Reports

Cannabis use doubles

The proportion of Canadians aged 15 or older who admit using cannabis has nearly doubled in 13 years, with the highest rates among teenagers.

An estimated 3 million people aged 15 or older reported that they used marijuana or hashish at least once in the year before a survey conducted in 2002.

About 6.5% of Canadians reported using cannabis in 1989 and 7.4% in 1994. By 2002, the proportion had reached 12.2%.

Nearly half of those who had used cannabis in the previous year had done so less than once a month. About 18% reported they had used it no more than three times a month, 10% on a weekly basis, and another 10%, daily.

The survey also collected data on five other drugs: cocaine/crack, ecstasy, LSD and other hallucinogens, amphetamines (speed), and heroin.

Overall, 2.4% of people aged 15 or older reported using at least one of these drugs in the past year, up from 1.6% in 1994. An estimated 321,000 people, or 1.3%, had used cocaine/crack, making it the most commonly used of these other drugs.

Men more likely to use cannabis

Men were more likely than women to report having used cannabis in the year before the survey. About 15.5% of men reported cannabis use, compared with 9.1% of women. The proportion of men was higher in all age groups except 15 to 17, where there was no difference between the sexes.

Cannabis use was most prevalent among young people, and its use peaked in the late teens. Close to four of every 10 teens aged 18 or 19 reported having used marijuana or hashish in the past year. The proportion among 15- to 17-year-olds was about three in 10.

Cannabis use drops off after age 24, although numbers in the 25 to 34 and 35 to 44 age groups were still substantial.

Lifetime: 10 million tried cannabis at least once

Although most Canadians were not current users of illicit drugs in 2002, many had tried them at some point in their life.

More than 10 million people reported having tried cannabis at least once in their lifetime. These people represented 41.3% of the population aged 15 or older. If one-time users are excluded, the proportion is 32.0%.

Again, men were more likely than women to have tried cannabis at least once. Lifetime use was highest among young adults aged 18 to 24.

The proportion of residents who had ever used cannabis was above the national average in Nova Scotia, Alberta and British Columbia. 

You can read the complete report in the July 2004 issue of Health Reports on our website.

For more information, contact Michael Tjepkema (416-952-4620), Health Statistics Division.

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© 2004, Statistics Canada.