Table 3 Characteristics of cannabis use by subjects (n = 100) enrolled in the study
Cannabis Characteristic | |
|---|---|
 Age of First Cannabis Use (± SD) | 17.3 (± 4.8) |
 Age of Onset for Regular Use (± SD) | 20.4 (± 6.2) |
 Years of Medicinal Cannabis Use (± SD) | 5.5 (± 7.1) |
Initial intention of cannabis use | |
 Medicinal | 11 |
 Recreational | 88 |
 Ever smoked cigarettes | 70 |
 Current smoker | 21 |
Reason for medical cannabis use | |
 Conventional treatments unhelpful | 22 |
 Prefer natural treatment | 52 |
 Doctor recommendation | 10 |
 Internet search for treatments | 16 |
 Hear-say from peers | 40 |
 Other | 18 |
Mental health conditions to treat with cannabis | |
 Anxiety, stress | 77 |
 Depression | 47 |
 Insomnia, sleep issues | 53 |
 PTSD | 14 |
 Bipolar disorder | 5 |
 Focus, attention | 14 |
 Other | 31 |
Using cannabis to treat other health conditions | 25 |
Reasons conventional treatments not preferred | |
 Not effective | 44 |
 Side effects | 54 |
 Expensive | 25 |
 Other | 25 |
Dispensary visits per month (± SD) | 4.0 (± 3.4) |
Frequency of cannabis use, times per month (± SD) | 47.1 (± 30.8) |
Amount of product use per week | |
Dried cannabis | |
 <1 g | 31 |
 3.5 g (an eighth) | 40 |
 7 g (a quarter) | 17 |
 14 g (a half) | 6 |
 28 g (an ounce) | 2 |
 Capsules (1–2 daily) | 10 |
 Tincture (~ 5 drops daily) | 4 |
 Other (~ 5 teabags, 20 oz. creams, oils and bath salts) | 6 |
Time of day usually use cannabis | |
 Early morning (6 am–9 am) | 9 |
 Mid-morning (9 am–11 am) | 13 |
 Midday (10 am-2 pm) | 17 |
 Mid-afternoon (2 pm–4 pm) | 16 |
 Early evening (4 pm–7 pm) | 27 |
 Evening (7 pm–10 pm) | 67 |
 Late night (10 pm-12 am) | 35 |
 Middle of the night (12 am–6 am) | 10 |
 On an as-needed basis | 37 |
Preferred form of consumption | |
 Smoking | 71 |
 Vaporiser | 43 |
 Edibles | 20 |
 Capsules | 17 |
 Tinctures | 15 |
 Tincture THC | 3 |
 Tincture CBD | 6 |
 Tincture Mix | 7 |
 Tea | 9 |
 Topical | 11 |
Cannabis products usually bought | |
 Dried cannabis | 91 |
 CBD capsules | 23 |
 Edibles | 17 |
 Extracts, concentrates | 9 |
 Tea | 8 |
 Tinctures | 8 |
 Massage oil, cream | 13 |
 Other | 2 |
Preferred THC to CBD concentrations | |
 Pure THC | 20 |
 Pure CBD | 18 |
 High THC/Low CBD | 35 |
 Equal THC/CBD | 35 |
 Low THC/High CBD | 21 |
 No preference | 6 |
 Don’t know | 14 |
Negative effects from medical cannabis | |
 Short-term memory loss | 25 |
 Dizziness | 16 |
 Decreased attention span | 21 |
 Decreased sensory perception | 6 |
 Increased anxiety | 36 |
 Paranoia | 26 |
 Impaired body movements | 9 |
 Difficulty breathing | 8 |
 Other | 8 |
Frequency of negative effects | |
 Every time I use cannabis | 2 |
 Nearly every time | 4 |
 Sometimes | 6 |
 Rarely | 20 |
 Only during a certain cannabis type | 19 |
 Not since the first time I used cannabis | 1 |
 Other | 10 |